Category Archives: Relationships

Accordion Book of Theseus and the Minotaur

22 Wednesday Feb 2023

Posted by in Animals, art, Literature, mythology, Relationships, Romance, Supernatural

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, , , , , , ,

Pasiphae and the White Bull; the Minotaur and sacrificial victim,

Theseus in background;Ariadne with sword and twine; death of

the Minotaur; Theseus departs for Naxos with Ariadne; Dionysius

gets the girl!

All acrylic and ink by Candia Dixon-Stuart- after going to the Knossos

exhibition at The Ashmolean, Oxford.

The Loneliest Man in the World- a sestina

29 Monday Aug 2022

Posted by in Crime, Environment, Nature, News, Poetry, Relationships, Social Comment, Writing

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , ,

The harbingers of the highway, strange men –

pistoleros? – murdered his tribe.  Alone,

he raises maize and yams.  He is the last

to roam 4,000 hectares; to survive

sarampion, flu, smallpox and the loss

of relationships, family and friends.

The agribusinesses have been no friends

to Amazonian rainforests.  Men

decimate the land; their gain is loss.

This man has lived for twenty years alone.

With four, or five, some other tribes survive,

but human diversity will not last.

When the illegal loggers have, at last,

razed every tree to the forest floor, friends

of the indigenous will not survive.

Stripping rare plants that might have healed men

will leave us with dilemmas, all alone,

to face health crises; scientific loss.

In today’s world we experience loss –

loss of our souls; our languages.  The last

man to roam North Rondonia alone

at least felt what it was once to have friends.

He knew the co-operation of men

was vital for tribe members to survive.

Without his wisdom, how can we survive?

No man is an island.  All sense the loss.

Our planet is affected – even men

who murdered his kin.  The effects will last,

impacting their families and their friends.

Doubtless their guilt should not be borne alone.

Corporations do not erode alone.

Immunity itself will not survive.

Time’s arrow can pierce foes and even friends.

The Man of the Hole, who suffered great loss,

knows his breath will be surrendered at last,

but he holds that in common with all men.

Friends of our earth, how shall we survive loss

of habitats and species?  Fellow men,

look at this last man.  He’s not alone.

Share this:

A post of the poem I already published in February 2021.

‘The Man in the Hole’ was found outside his straw hut, dead in a hammock

and covered with Macaw feathers. He was aged about 60 and no foul play

is suspected at this time.