Wednesday 11 January 2023

Beasts, Vicious and Knowing

This Mythic place is full of beasts, but not the dumb creatures of our prophesised future. 

They birthed the fables, ushering our children into sleep.

In turn, the fables changed them. Embodiments of those old tales of virtue and vice. 

Uncaring faunic tutors, at once purposeful and wild. Unspeaking, but as rich a text as any story or song. 


Blind Boar
All condole his sightless leer
Yet he walk and wander all-no fear
Those eyes a clouded cold abyss
Still he roamed, no hoof amiss


Roaring Coot
A creature of the most aloud in flap and honk and bellow
Cried so loud the sky a-fell down star and moon o'yellow
Sky saw the bird
Without a word
A screaming rise!
The heavens shot asky so fast no swifted bird might follow


Deathly Crocodile
A snap of jaws, twisting down
To a greenly grave, notten found
In the low water, soul-glutton vile
His snap bring blood, his eye bring bile


Witchy Goat
In a rainful spring
when the newgoats sing
a pale one listens from the gloom

one for pity
two for luck
but horns-of-three calls curs-ed doom


Talking Hyena
Of all the creatures blessed with tongue
Hyenas squander most
It speaks alone as luring lies
So death may soon approach


Mole-a-Brightly
Mole a-Brightly, great of mind
But untouched thoughts, so hard to find
Scrawl and scramble, deep in earth
A dark domain of lauded worth

But as he grows, his mind doth close
To those unseen, he turns his nose
He cannot see beyond his own
Flinching from the path unknown

Yet how he shines, a bright light still!
His wisdom sought, his counsel skilled
But oh the cost, of being blind
To all but what he knows to find

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Art by Midjourney

This post was originally sent as a reward to all Patreon supporters, and is released freely on this site the week after its original publication.

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4 comments:

  1. Dang, Midjourney does a pretty good job on illuminated texts, huh? Sorry, Andreas Maler

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  2. Yeah, I'm not keen on ai art but aping illuminated manuscripts seems like a good use for the tech, the original artists being long gone.

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    1. Yeah my stance is that it's best used for silly things like this and as placeholder art.

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  3. I love the cardigan on the Mole!

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