For NaPoWriMo Day 18
Myth Within The Myth
He had eaten the last
of his supplies, the evening
before. Knew he’d have
to find a store where he
could purchase more.
Luck was with him, as he
entered a small town and found
a fresh produce market on it’s
single through thoroughfare.
He found fresh peaches and corn,
apples in several shades, and snap
pea pods, one of his favorites. Smelled
home-baked bread at a stall with
a table covered with large and small
golden, crisp-crusted loaves.
While purchasing these, looked up
to see an elderly man climb the stairs
to a make-shift stage to read a few
pieces of his poetry. Immediately
drawn, he sat in a folding chair
to lean in and listen.
The Child Who Tempted Darkness
Wanting her share of the fruit
she had produced,
the earth drew the apple
unto herself,
pulling it down to her soft
dark enfoldment.
But the greedy child, never
willing to wait,
snatched it from where it momentarily rested.
The earth groaned in hunger.
Having snatched the apple,
the greedy child ( never
willing to wait)
swallowed swiftly. Never tasting
bright crisp skin,
soft crunchy flesh,
sweet juices running.
The core, tossed into a cave
no other knew,
awakened the darkness sleeping there
from his centuries of hibernation.
The darkness groaned,
prowling in his outrage.
Prowling darkness came upon
earth in her hunger.
His rage unsheathed lethal weapons
from massive paws.
The two stared at one another
while the universe stayed
it’s second breath.
Sweeping slashes ripped through thin skin
to vital organs.
He roared his pleasure, she shook
and trembled with her pain.
And the greedy child (never willing
to wait) sat atop
Fool’s Mountain,
juggling apple seeds in cold
colorless fingers.
Elizabeth Crawford 4/18/15
Notes: Before April, I had been pouring over files of old poetry for a manuscript I was working on. Amidst all those pages of paper, I found this myth I had written over thirty years ago, my first unwitting attempt at writing mythos. Didn’t fully understand it then, but liked it enough to keep it in the filing cabinet all of these years. When I found it, was surprised at how easily I comprehended its fuller meaning, and decided to try to work it into this current myth making project. It remains, pretty much in the form it was originally written. However, I did change the title. The image is from the internet.
Soul's Music 