alan b

The refusal of Orpheus

Orpheus

The magical power of his lyre

Coaxing stones into dance

His music more beautiful

Than the sirens\' bewitching songs

Gone down the drain of eternity

Exalting in the mysteries of thought

The phantasm of Eurydice

Dancing before his eyes

In tall grass

A fatal bite in her heel

She died

Drawn to Hades

Charon

That ferryman of souls

Could not hold him back

Looking back

She vanished

Dancing Maenads 

Dismembered him

But his head

Floats with his lyre

Down the river to the sea

Where it is found

By lovesick youth

Forever refusing 

To let love

Cease