Lovers ~ Before and After {Redux)

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ISIS of CRISIS

It now seems
so very long ago
I travelled
that tempestuous path
blessed by the wrath
of a jealous Osiris
that led to Har Məgīddō
where I first met Isis
the serene queen
of my karmic crisis
torn from a dream
at the frenzied height
of a broken séance
There at the Mirage Oasis
she laid in wait
bare naked
her voluptuous form
born of the Nile
Greeting me in style
with her crystalline smile …

“Hello Sailor!
Any port in a storm?”

As the Blue Nile
was bleeding down
my starboard arm
seeping into the ink
under my shedding skin
she led me on
with primal passion
to the steps
of her gilded throne
From the ether
I heard a whisper
that brought a shiver
down to the bone . . .

“Sailor beware
of the Fata Morgana
and her river delta
that turns living flesh
into petrified stone!”

All caution lost
in the reflection
of her mirrored face
disappearing
without a trace
in a breath of frost
as my life lines
were fully erased
then held for ransom
A life of a thousand deaths
and a thousand lifetimes
to conspire our crime
that deepest desire
from the hungry base
of a mortal spine
where a raging river
ignites in flames
flowing deep
into her delta of fire
Flood waters rising
with two souls dissolving
into the cauldron
of an all consuming implosion
Orphans of the wild caught
beyond sound and sight
Imprisoned
by forbidden delight
in a prism of white light
reciting the incantations
of a fiery baptism

In a frozen wilderness
where stars bursts
and constellations shatter
the scars of time whisper
of an ancient thirst
To drink from the living water

“To get to the sea . . .
you must follow the river.
For the love of God
we could do you no harm,
for within that
still beating heart
was placed a golden charm,
thus thwarting
your most deserving fate.”

But my heart
was no longer in it
I was left bereft
in a bohemian attic
Remembering only
her forgotten music
and drinking goldfish
(best swallowed whole)
at the shopping mall
of all things plastic
when Captain Ahab
came to me saying …

“Forget the goldfish.
Let’s go hunt for whale!
And remember Ishmael,
God is always listening.
Regardless
of where you’re sailing
and who’s bell ye be ringing.”

So I thought
… Why not?!
I’ll go along as
the Committee of Glum
after the castration
of the famed Italian
Renaissance artist Titian
(henceforth to be known
simply as ‘Harmless Ian’)
was sounding a false alarm
erasing the ‘Tit’
from the prow
of the Goodship Titanic
(to then be hidden
in that bohemian attic
only ever to be seen
on the sodden pages
of Iceberg Magazine)
with a shout from the stern
as from an iron pulpit …

“Original sin
from the depths is rising!
And Isis, I’m curious,
what have you been smoking?”

Guilt sinking in
with a cold Atlantic panic
it was about that time
the first mate succumbed
to a freezing of the brain
leaving Isis
in a vegetative state
of painless
yet pointless shame
Time to escape
a death worse than fate
as a vagabond sailor
hit the proverbial fan
four sheets to the wind
with an inner voice
giving a choice
to sink without a trace
or swim to win
and see the sunrise
over an endless ocean
I was made first grade
by the great I AM
No need to apologize
to the overtly zealous
amongst the dead
or the quick
Yet I soon lost my lust
for whaling
after harpooning
the elusive Moby Dick

So, as from a flock
of rapacious raptors
I ran back
down the track
to the silken road
that leads to Har Məgīddō
awaiting that rapture
Freedom from Fata Morgana
With my juggling days
all but over
only to be
swept over the falls
juggling balls and all
into a whirlpool of desire
Yet the familiar
never ever
felt quite the same
Forever given
a loving taste
of what can never be taken
That merciful grace
in the name of Jesus Christ
. . . an outcast forgiven

Meanwhile
Isis sits patiently
under a waning Moon
as she orders
her favourite cocktail
Revenge on the Rocks of Ruin
And reciting
from her Book of Harm
a blessing for Ishmael
the sailor of good fortune
now under full sail
and holding fast
to his golden charm
as he plies
life’s mysterious ocean

~ by David B. Redpath © 2018-2024

The Transit of Venus

Venus gliding
upon the waves flowing
from heaven’s windowsill
Step aboard
my unworthy vessel
my rapacious Rapunzel
With hair flowing down
wild from a golden crown
Mere words can only fail
in the expressing
of what the heart knows
but can never tell
Her love
like a silken gown
flowing down
from an ivory tower
My up rising
from the stony ground
like a morning glory
of power flowering

Deep within
with heavy sighing
to the heavens gasping
“Oh God!”
That little death
of love resurrecting
grasping together
within one diluvian breath
That giving and taking
ever flooding the living
with heavenly meaning
beyond all rhyme and reason
The hours redeeming
with full blown passion
Celebrations sacred
in unity worshiping

This heart has known
the broken existence
of a love torn apart
and the open heaven
of true love’s redemption
Two spirits united and ignited
touched by the Presence
I have been gifted to witness
the transit of Venus
across the horizon descending
Resistance was useless
against her amorous spell
that dollop of sweetness
upon a scallop shell riding
A shot of loving grace
with all existence
trembling in the vacuum
of time and space
That love from above
that burns with anticipation
I just can’t quit it
I’m in the thick of it
Love without question
as she turns
a tantric glance
in my direction
From the storm
of a tragic past
a heathen reborn
upon the threshold
of her heavenly thighs
My earthly kingdom
for an everlasting taste
of love’s perfection
seen in the reflection
of her emerald eyes

~ by David B. Redpath © 2018-24

Artwork:
‘Venus Rising From the Sea’
~ by Titian

Photography:
David B. Redpath © 2019-2024

103 thoughts on “Lovers ~ Before and After {Redux)”

    1. Thank you, John. I appreciate you
      strapping on a life vest, just in case.
      It was a long sea journey of a story,
      that took some time to rearrange
      those deckchairs on the Titanic to
      protect the guilty … mainly me 😎

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    1. How can I take it any other
      complimentary way, Karima,
      as the subconscious of an artist,
      such as yourself, is the super
      highway of human existence ☑️
      Thanks for drinking the Kool-Aid
      of my post, despite the great risk 😎

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

    1. Thank you, Liz 🙏 Yes, there’s
      nothing quite like encountering a
      vengeful Egyptian Goddess getting
      drunk on the rocks of ruination 😱
      Erotic love poems are the ones that
      require no rhyme or reason, so …
      I’m fully qualified to write them 😎

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    1. Thanks for the extraordinarily kind
      comment … from someone who is
      obviously one of a kind 🙏 😎
      I too live in an equestrian arena
      surrounded by thoroughbreds 🐴
      ridden to extreme by my daughter.
      Not to mention a pony or two 🦄
      who just munch the grass, with
      not much else to do 🎠

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. You’re very welcome! I absolutely love thoroughbreds. My boy lived to be 28. I haven’t had a thoroughbred since. I was looking into another one, but wound up with an Egyptian Arabian, a POA, and a Shetland Pony haha 😂 complete opposites, but they’re all still amazing!

        Liked by 2 people

      3. I love it! Welsh ponies are such a great breed for jumping and dressage, and Australian stock horses make great trail horses! My Arabian was my A-Circuit jumper pony, my POA is my gymkhana and trail horse, and the Shetland is still deciding what he wants to be when he grows up. He is very green and only has about 25 rides on him. Ultimately, he will be for my twin baby nephews (I bought him five years early for them because he needed a lot of work). I’m hoping my eventual kids will be into horses too because he would be the perfect pony for them to start with 😉

        Liked by 1 person

      4. I’ve been down that thankless track
        of much floating to and from pony
        club & those endless riding lessons
        watching our littlest outlaws ride like
        the wind 🐎 Each and every one a
        bronco busting blessing, and a Wild
        West legend in their own lunchtime
        . . . of course 😎

        Liked by 2 people

      5. Yee-haw 🤠 Haha I love your eloquent style of writing! It really is creative! I wish I could say I was in pony club, but my parents could only afford lessons when I was growing up. Once I started competing, I had to work to show haha 😂 I felt like the biggest badass because I was the only 16-year-old that could pay their own show fees. My mom was at every single show and was the best show mom. My dad was to sick to come most of the time, but he always cheered me on from home. They were always as supportive as possible when it came to horses. No one else in my family was as horsie as me 😂

        Liked by 2 people

      6. Good point, Bojana.
        But who is this Sailor,
        and does he play the guitar?

        “And Madonna,
        she still has not showed.
        We see this empty cage
        now corrode
        where her cape of the stage
        once had flowed.
        The fiddler, he now steps
        to the road.
        He writes ev’rything’s
        been returned which was owed
        on the back
        of the fish truck that loads
        while my conscience explodes.”

        ~ Bob Dylan

        Liked by 1 person

      8. Thanks for the energy, Bojana🌹
        I can see clearly now
        that it’s getting quite dark
        as the Kremlin cake melts
        in the mist at Gorky Park
        A last cigarette for an old sailor?
        The seafaring radiation survivor
        a ghost from the inglorious past

        Liked by 1 person

    1. Yes Chris, Isis had me walking like
      like an Egyptian, which after a while
      becomes a mythological pain in the
      underworld region!🔥😠 🕶️
      Whereas Venus brought me roses
      and chocolates 🌹🍫 all the way
      from Mount Olympus ⛰️ 😎

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

    1. For an old salt of the sea 🏝️
      like me 🌊😎 this is such a
      great compliment, Buckeye 🙏
      In fact, my No. 2 son is now a
      Lieutenant in the Australian
      Navy. Just 8 more promotions
      and he’ll be Admiral of the Fleet,
      which would be pretty neat ⛵

      Like

      Reply
  24. Pingback: Lovers ~ Before and After – Today all. in one masti

    1. Greatly appreciated, Anna.
      The dear wife, my speech therapist,
      says something similar 🤔🕶️
      That I’ve done away with words 😎
      Here’s hoping for a peaceful world 🙏🕊️
      in 2025, so that humanity may survive.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  27. Hello again, David,
    Thank you so much for taking a look at my
    latest blogpost after my long inactivity on WP.
    Just saw your mythological poems and
    artworks here. They are very beautiful as
    always, especially this stanza from the first
    poem that resonates with me because of its
    powerful imagery:

    “As the Blue Nile
    was bleeding down
    my starboard arm
    seeping into the ink
    under my shedding skin
    she led me on
    with primal passion
    to the steps
    of her gilded throne
    From the ether
    I heard a whisper
    that brought a shiver
    down to the bone . . . “

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Greatly appreciated John 🙏
      As they say, truth is stranger than fiction.
      Fortunately for the guilty (mainly me)
      I took a writing lesson from Bob Dylan;

      “All these people that you mention,
      yes, I know them, they’re quite lame.
      I had to rearrange their faces
      and give them all another name.”

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    1. Greatly appreciated, Priti 😎

      “Love is all there is,
      it makes the world go ’round.
      Love and only love, it can’t be denied.
      No matter what you think about it,
      You just won’t be able to do without it.
      Take a tip from one who’s tried.”
      ~ Bob Dylan

      Like

      Reply

    1. Most Goddesses I’ve met will just
      suck you dry, and then leave you stuck
      in the mortal dust. My advice is to
      avoid Mount Olympus at any cost.

      Yes, ever since Uncle Ernie started
      working with Elon Musk at DOGE,
      Department of Government Efficiency,
      (fitting since Uncle Ernie is such a
      DOdGEy character) the power seems to
      have gone to his head. He had me and
      all my fellow workers at ASIO sacked,
      and ASIO isn’t even a part of the U.S.
      Government! It’s Australian!!

      Like

      Reply

  37. Wow, this is an absolutely wild ride, like a dream where mythology, literature, poetry, and raw emotion collide in the most unexpected ways.
    The way you use Isis as both goddess and personal crisis reminds me of how certain people or experiences can consume us, making us lose ourselves in passion, obsession, or illusion. Reading it, I kept thinking about those moments in my life when I knew something wasn’t good for me, but I took the ride anyway. Whether it’s love, addiction, or chasing some impossible dream. Fata M was like that voice in the back of my mind telling me it’s all an illusion. I’ve had many Fata’s in my life.

    It’s the kind of poe-estory that makes me think about my own past, the mistakes, the near misses, and the strange, twisted beauty of it all. A conversational piece for sure. Lots to grabble over ❤️📚

    Well written! ✍️

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Thank you for taking the ride 🙏
      Very pleased you related, and got
      something out of this piece.
      Yes, Isis was just too much.
      A Horus horror story!
      But then, it takes two
      to walk like an Egyptian.
      After much travail I finally found
      my Venus in a half shell, just like
      that famous Botticelli painting 🖼️
      Sometimes the journey itself is
      as important as the destination.
      Just this morning Bob Dylan was
      telling me something similar 🎶

      ttps://youtu.be/INilAY6aJTc?feature=shared

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

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