Deep in myth, these galleries keep their counsel
but re-distribute all the elements.
Nymph rides goat, at-tended by a satyr
who pats her rump to help her keep her seat;
putto rides goat, attended by a nymph.
Two other satyrs from behind a bush
leer at a nymph reclining in a grot.
By a Maenadic, irrepressibly
chortling nurse-attendant, infant Bacchus
is given wine to drink. And over here
Eurydice sees the vi-per, lifts her skirt,
scurries”in vain, we know, but she does not.
This story isn’t over yet. Behind them
all, a massive hilltop fortress built
of solid stone is somehow catching fire.
Perspective, possibilities peel back:
reluctantly we leave one world, reen-ter
another, where we have already seen
stone burning and a crane collapsing. Now
get ready for the sea-son of the snake.
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE
Judaism Outside History
Jews familiar with Franz Rosenzweig (1886–1929) probably know him first as a hero, only then as a…
The Marxist Who Understood Sex Better than the UMC
The United Methodist Church (UMC) has removed Asbury Theological Seminary from its list of institutions approved to…
The Pope and the Antichrist
I recently lectured in Rome on the topic of the Antichrist. The Antichrist interests me for several reasons,…
