The wave of a dolphin’s fin
as it sets off
on a pensive task
reflects the shadowy form
of a vagrant bird
flying in the wanton wind;
this is the butterfly’s flutter
that gave birth to the thought
of you touching me.
– percy at shadow of iris
butterfly effect
[Creatively adapted from Percy Bysshe Shelley's Alastor]
From this dark obliterating course
let angels come
and lead me to the light.
A ship straining
under fierce gusts
and precipitating force
whirlwind swept
through the white ridges
of a chafed sea.
Blast on blast
wave on wave
rising higher
and higher still
fierce necks that writhe
beneath the tempest’s scourge
a serpent struggling
in the vulture’s grasp
spiraling up into a beauty
from which there is
no return.
– percy at shadow of iris
the tempests scourge
[Creatively adapted from Percy Bysshe Shelley's Alastor]
He woke under the full moon
to find a veiled maiden sat near
singing in low solemn tones;
her voice,
the voice of his own soul
heard in the calm of thought
a melody of woven sounds;
streams and breezes
crackling leaves
birds and crickets;
his inmost sense
suspended in its own web
a multi-colored iridescent net
of shifting hues
from which freedom
would be a loss.
– percy at shadow of iris
the calm of thought
[Creatively adapted from Percy Bysshe Shelley's Alastor]
