Beowulf’s Blade

by Katherine L. Gordon

Beowulf is in those woods

where the mists writhe,

he has taken his sacred weapon

from the great hall

and written my name on its blade.

Where time-strings collide

in dark November thickets

I am drawn to test the walls

between the circles of creation.

Rain-bells glisten like fairy globes

on the tips of black-laquered branches,

radiant witnesses to the stealthy unraveling

of all the runes and riddles

that have prophesied this time.

All the summers of opiate denial,

soul-sleeps of winter,

fevers of spring,

have been stage curtains

for November’s grave-goods galliard.

Fear and longing collide in this dance

as I turn alone to call his name,

one must slay the unholy parts,

wake to other partners.

* * * * *

Katherine L. Gordon is a rural Ontario poet, publisher, judge, editor and reviewer, working to promote the voices of women poets around the world, as they are now flowering into acclaim.  She has many books, chapbooks, anthologies and collaborations with fine contemporaries whose work inspires her.  Her poems have been translated and awarded internationally.  Latest book: Piping at the End of Days, Valley Press.