Eclipse
Elizabeth Spencer Spragins
(A Cywydd Llosgyrnog)
A blanket woven by the mist
Adrift on seas of amethyst
Cloaks an isle unwist[1], where wise
Ones tend the monuments of stone.
A solitary priest lies prone,
Foreshown death in demon’s guise.
A dragon bound with spell and rune,
Once firmly tethered to the moon,
Gnaws at chains and soon will rise
On mammoth wings beyond the night
To feed on sparks of love and light,
Steal the sight from earthly eyes.
Orion[2] hears the Druid’s plea,
Bestrides the unlit galaxy,
Stalks the creature as it pries
The steaming crust from gilded sun
And dines on gold the Gods have spun.
Then one flaming arrow flies
And scorches scales of wings that fold
As blood of ebony grows cold:
Olden arts rekindle skies.
Now he who quenched the dragon’s fire
Rakes ashes from the corpse’s pyre,
Buries ire with dark’s demise.
~Ring of Brodgar, Isles of Orkney, Scotland
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[1] Unknown
[2] According to Greek mythology, the giant hunter Orion was placed among the stars after his death. The constellation that bears his name can be seen chasing the Pleiades.
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Elizabeth Spencer Spragins is a poet and writer who taught in American community colleges for more than a decade. Her tanka and bardic verse in the Celtic style have been published extensively in Europe, Asia, and North America. She is the author of With No Bridle for the Breeze: Ungrounded Verse and The Language of Bones: American Journeys Through Bardic Verse. Updates are available on her website: www.authorsden.com/elizabethspragins.
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