Hadas, Pamela White

Circe

1. for “Perseus”
2.  
3. I
4.  
5. [Circe and Odysseus confront each other. He has come to her palace
   to retrieve his crew, all but one of whom she has turned into swine.]
6.  
7. Because your men were making pigs of themselves,
8. that’s why. And for fun.
9.  
10. Notice, there’s room in the sty
11. for at least one more—beast.
12.  
13. Look sharp!—
14. Those wolves—
15. I made them, the lions too—they’ve come to stay
16. though they think like men (I didn’t change their minds)
17. that they can cajole me—
18. what oinks and whines!—
19. with gutsy purrs to break the spells.
20. It lends
21. a certain pathos to the place—no?
22. The sun’s
23. my father. I inherited his lack
24. of pity—
25. only a degree of power—
26. like him
27. I love to captivate—
28. in my way—
29. turn back
30. evolution a bit now and then—
31. a whim.
32. But you look antsy—you look mad in fact.
33. Come in.
34. Let’s talk.
35. It’s only the first act.
36.  
37. II
38.  
39. Yes, that’s my loom in the hall.
40. I sing and weave . . .
41. uh . . . curtains—
42. most middle-class witches do
43. to some extent,
44. No, you mustn’t leave—
45. stay.
46. Wallow for a while.
47. I may spare you
48. the pain of sailing home alone.
49. Disarm
50. yourself.
51. Tell me about your battles or
52. your loves—show me you can match my charm
53. and maybe I’ll relent.
54. Here, let me pour
55. you a drop of honey wine—Aeaea’s own.
56. Aeaea: Land of Wailing.
57. I didn’t name
58. the place.
59. It’s also known as “Isle of Dawn.”
60. I wish you’d stay for it.
61. You must.
62. Don’t blame
63. me, Darling . . .
64. Sleepy?
65. (Here’s one final touch
66. I hate to give.)
67. So much for that.
68. So much . . .
69.  
70. III
71.  
72. [But Hermes has given Odysseus the moly flower—a kind
    of rue—whose fragrance protects him from Circe’s spell.]
73.  
74. It doesn’t change you!
75. Damn—who gave you rue—
76. pure petals and soot black root, the one
77. brash plant I can’t outcharm.
78. But—entre nous—
79. I’m kind of glad.
80. I’ve wanted a distraction
81. from the usual makeshift metamorphosis
82. I do.
83. If you want to know—
84. I’ve had it up
85. to here in half-lit halt-wit magic trash—
86. this living debris—
87. you see—my empty cup
88. runneth over:
89. abracadabra———gush.
90. I didn’t really want revenge.
91. Did you?
92. No stock in men—
93. no men in stock—
94. seduce
95. me now if you can.
96. Unbutton me, undo
97. a loneliness.
98. I’ll wear the moly flower
99. in my hair—
100. mercurial gift,
101. mercurial cure.
102.  
103. IV
104.  
105. I made both palace and zoo with words.
106. I talked
107. myself into them, made words things,
108. and now
109. beyond all that—
110. well, there you are.
111. You’re not
112. one of the phantoms.
113. I’ll have to let you go.
114. So there you are.
115. Your crew is all brought round.
116. Let’s celebrate my broken wand.
117. Here’s wine
118. (it’s safe), a bath, a purple quilt . . .
119. We’re found
120. and lost in luxury—
121. ruse-lovers, twine
122. to be.
123. Even so, please know
124. I know you will
125. leave me . . .
126. quite speechless.
127. think perhaps you dreamed
128. and tell Penelope so.
129. I see it all—
130. that’s the curse of my kind, to see:
131. You’ll say I schemed
132. to keep you.
133. Please say now it isn’t true.
134. You want . . .
135. you want to dance with me,
136. don’t you?
137.  
138. V
139.  
140. [After a year of pleasure it is time for Odysseus to set
     sail again for Ithaca, and Circe offers her assistance.]
141.  
142. I send you to Teiresias because you must
143. know what you are about.
144. You’ve made enough
145. false starts.
146. I’ve taught you this and a little trust
147. in love and play’s not a bad thing.
148. But love
149. and play alone can’t get you home,
150. so run
151. along:
152. with the North Wind to the Ocean Stream
153. to the stand of willows that that great yawn
154. Persephone loves—
155. so much—
156. then kill a ram
157. and ewe the color of sun eclipsed
158. (which I
159. will kindly provide—
160. my love—
161. as an offering
162. to Hell without you).
163. Make sure you wave away
164. all the blood curious ghosts all clustering
165. for sips and thrills;
166. then wait for the prophet—he
167. will gulp some blood,
168. then tell you about the sea.
169.  
170. VI
171.  
172. As if you didn’t know.
173. Your end must come
174. from it—
175. the waves around Aeaea now
176. are rife with it—
177. no matter.
178. Take it from
179. me—you won’t believe it.
180. So you go—
181. and so it goes—
182. with you—mortality—
183. double trouble . . .
184. Self-pity stinks.
185. Here, take
186. this—it’s a breeze, really—
187. to nudge you on
188. toward Perpetual Dusk . . .
189. Please stop
190. on your way back.
191. That was quick.
192. Now off again—
193. sinking twice—
194. I can’t get over it.
195. Three sons . . . I
196. wish . . . Kiss me.
197. Now.
198. A last word of advice:
199. Shut out Sirens—
200. bitches compared to me.
201. So long.
202. The willows’ sea crows know this much:
203. even a witch can feel—
204. the finishing touch.