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September 2009 
Swan Dive
Posted on Oct 28th, 2008
by 
forrest
forrest
Orpheus comes to the end.
He has killed Eurydice with his glance.
He has encountered the underworld and now is surfacing again.
What now?
What shall he do?
Can he find in himself another song, and what shall that be?
A song of mourning, of grief?
A song of love? (He has destroyed the object of his love, he has killed his partner.)
A song of hope? (What hope is there?)
A song of the shadows? (He has left the shadows in Hades, been there, done that.)
Enough of the self introspection.
Enough whining, and navel gazing.
There is no bottom to the pool of sorrow, no end to the
vastness of Hades.
When we die, we will die forever, unfathomably dissolved into the darkness or the light, as you wish.
Either way completely gone.
I hear the voice of my father, the voice of my grandfathers, and they urge me to action.
Not the confused action of Orpheus before the descent.
Not the search for meaning and love somewhere else,
the desire to be saved.
Chop wood, carry water, let the heart and it’s mourning dissolve in the daily work.
Tears and laughter coming and going,
cleaning mirrors, washing floors, making food for my daughter.
The journey to the underworld is necessary.
It’s also necessary to return.
It’s necessary for the worm to become a chrysalid.
And of necessity, become a butterfly.
A few days of flying free, and then
the darkness will engulf me once again.
There’s no need to worry that i’ll forget how to die.
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This is a very interesting poem, quite sad. I love mythology and the story of Orpheus. i think it's about attachment. Thank you for sharing here.
Sends a bit of pain through my heart - but I suppose it is because I connect with it.
Love it.
There is pain, as my personality has descended, or the shadows have risen into the light….I am seen, and I am not as beautiful as I envisioned. Yet mystery surrounds me still, and I will never truly see myself. This may indeed have been the only path I could walk. I can weave the words, but in the end, “chop wood, carry water.”