Thank you, Ursula. I enjoyed both poems very much. Pass on my kudos to Ken, and I confess I had no idea that Rad Bradury had a poetic bone in his body. Mike Geary Memphis ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ursula Stange" <Ursula@xxxxxxxxxx> To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Sunday, April 03, 2005 10:53 AM Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: APRIL POEMS (2nd for 3rd) >A freebie.... > (Ken is my husband) > > Fenrir > > by Ken Stange > . > . > Fenrir, demonic offspring of Loki, fearsome wolf wild > And terrible, was young among the gods. Grew crazy > With the blood pulse of nebulae, would howl and wail > At the turning of the seasons, the growing of time. Fierce > Fenrir, to whom humans were insects, grew stronger than > Gods, till only one of the Masters, gentle Tyr, could > Control him. Fenrir, to whom constellations were moments, > Would chase after the sun: Fenrir would want so to catch > And devour the sun. > > Odin in his wisdom saw > And said to Tyr, Fenrir's trust, `The wolf > Must be bound, must be bound to hold steady > The cosmic centre. Only you can feed him, > Only you does he trust; Fenrir too fierce > To be free. We must bind him and hold him > Before he can devour the sun. > . > Odin in his wisdom saw > And went to dwarves in their caves. > And the dwarves did spells: > Took the roots of mountains, > Noise of a slinking she-cat, > Breath of a fish, sigh of a woman > In heat - all the invisible powers > Of the revolving centre - and wound > A chain of might that looked but like > A simple silken cord > Yet was strong > As the winds of space. > . > And only Tyr could feed him, > And only Tyr could calm him, > Fenrir fearsome when he saw the bindings. > Only Tyr could ease him by swearing > The chain was but a symbol, and by > Putting his right hand full > Into the mouth of the wolf. > When the chain was looped over Fenrir, > He immediately tensed and tested its powers and found > It would not break and the sun > Would never be devoured and he would never > Move free and Fenrir took away Tyr's hand > And Tyr bled justly > For Tyr had lied. > . > And the cosmic centre held . another thousand years. > > ------------------------------------------------------------------ > To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, > digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html ------------------------------------------------------------------ To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html