Pan Poem

When I was young

the wild god came to me

I found his graven image

in a shop by the sea

and wore it on a silver chain

between my breasts

and learned the arts

of womanhood

and you should know the rest

I found my heart’s desire

the pendant broke in two

I put the remnants aside

And thought of them no more

Years went by and I

became a dull thing, a statue

stone mermaid on the prow

and now

the spark of me lay buried

somewhere in the skeletal cage

somewhere in the labyrinthine mind

It was time

for a change

And so I dreamt an invocation

of the goat god

the mythical swain

Wild Pan of the mountaintops

player of pipes, chaser of nymphs

god of forests and wanting

I called upon him unknowing

and drew upon me

both a blessing and a curse

the thing I never knew I’d wanted

Be careful what you wish for

you might be left

Wanting

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