[orpheuslament]

descriptions of dionysos in the bakkhai (tr. anne carson) that make me lose my mind a little

[endurons]

the   river   has   𝒘ept   a   bountiful   mist   and   a   cull   clings   to   it   and   rises   as   the   very   moonshine   does   this   night.   a   feather- white   apparition   is   caught   in   the   wind,   her   edges   dislimning   in   the   haze,   in   the   wood–   and   all   at   once   she   is   lunar-haloed   and   i   make   the   brief   mistake   of   thinking   her   but a   woman.     it   seems   she   is   not   so   moored   as   i.   into   near   obscurity   is   our   brumal   presence   smudged,   not   a   breath   shared   between   us      /      not   a   blink,   i   do   not   want   to   miss   her   shape :   she   is   what   appears   to   me   a   transient   sigh ,   wavering,   to   be   undone   with   the   passing   of   the   breeze.   if   there   were   any   sign   of   life   here,   it   has   not yet   revealed   itself   to   me.

“   a   beautiful   call,   ”   and   i   make   no instant   effort to   approach   @frysse.   time   and   time   again,   we   have   been   little   but   flickering   starlets   in   the   early hours   to   one   another,   as   i   smeared   blood   in   silence   across   her   kingdom.  ( i   muse   for   a   moment   how   fares   her   kin   in   these   years,   if   perhaps   she   grieves   a   sister   still )   i   have   felt   her,   her   silhouette   in   the   window   a   stranger   to   me,   my   kind.   a   flavor   of   continuance   not   reached   by   my   claw.   “   enfin ⸻   curious   by   dusk   was   i   to   see   if   you   might   come   find   me   once   more.   and curious   you   are   to   me.   ”   if   she   bats an eye now,   she   will   miss   my   advance,   drawing   nigh   to   the   incorporeal   one.   “    i’ve   cleaned   up   well   enough,   i   do   hope.   ”

[endurons]

but i sense you are doing everything possible to help me forget your ugliness. "