Markela
Kontaratou
Sonnets
I
Just like the West brings Death upon the East
Onto her throne reversed the Queen of Spades.
The Tower fell and ruined the royal feast
And her witch-heart was pierced by three bronze blades.
The windows broke but as the rooms collapsed
A piece of glass sent back a final sheen.
The shimmer shivered as the Queen relapsed
Revealing things for mortal eyes unseen.
Among the stars, Saturns’ infernal reign;
The Brightest Sun could not eliminate.
The poet’s lacking, impotent quatrain
Could not narrate, describe, or simply state.
Oh, did she sway to see the end of days?
Or did she laugh in her inertial daze?
II
Oh, did she laugh? In her inertial daze
She dropped her glass; her clothes in whiskey drowned.
And in a raving fit she set ablaze
The card upon she saw the beastly hound.
But from the flames her mask melted; Below
A spectre ever fallen was exposed.
With hands from which abominations flow.
A scarlet dress; from purple rays composed.
“Upon these waters long I’ve sat alone.
In time I had to come to terms with how
Of all the Earthly Kings I worship none.
And my crimson-clenched lips formed a vile vow:
To never mourn again love’s labour’s lost
And reign the sapphire kingdom from this post.”
III
To reign the sapphire’s kingdom from that post
King Cyrus thought beneath the old yew tree.
He gazed the vast land and the river’s coast
And to himself he grinned in bel esprit.
I at the time was scrolling on my phone
Boringly; The seven heads of the Beast
Resting in slumber deep below my throne.
Hence I ignored the danger from Southeast.
And so I blame myself for all this loss;
Not noticing the waters diverted;
For letting you the fucking Tigris cross,
And giving free reign to dreams perverted.
Before I knew it that old spell was cast:
Anathema, the summer’s dying fast.
IV
Anathema, the summer’s dying fast.
Domain of his and of his royal line.
Delusional, I thought that it would last
But we were followed by a star malign.
We walked through cities covered by the shade
Of past achievements and of glories spent
We drank each other fast and then he strayed
For other ventures I came to resent
Ancient predicaments govern the Law:
The Empire rises, flourishes and falls.
And now I’m plagued by pain deserving, raw;
For once more I ignored Cassandra’s calls.
Some nights I recollect insomniac,
I left stained lipstick on his reptile back.
​
V
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I left stained lipstick on his reptile back.
(A mark that he was born in endless night.)
His pulse was only woe and witchcraft black
Vibrating in the trembling candlelight.
The Rotting kind, his breath of sulfur stank-
Enough to suffocate all passing flies.
Their bodies fell right down; the evening sank;
And endless hours I waited for sunrise.
I knew, in morning light he’d turn to dust.
I promised that until the deed be done
I won’t give in to either guilt or lust.
(I gave the sign of silence to the sun)
But like an adept thief, before the dawn,
He stole my heart and fed it to the dogs.