Hymenaios, or the Marriage of the God of Marriage - 8. Part VIII. Soaring

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Part VIII. Soaring

Hoisting aloft to gain a bird’s-eye-view,

The road’s dark green foliage of summer

Shimmered merrily through the midday heat.

The tight band of acolyte Little Bears

Chatted, making their way back towards town;

Fatigued, the girls were also jubilant.

From her regal position out in front,

The high priestess led with newfound vigor.

Following close in her train was Kathros

And the re-wigged and re-veiled Hymena,

For better to be guised as all woman

Than either male or female in disguise.

Meanwhile, back in town, the Agora buzzed

In swarming conference circles comprised of

The male relatives of the kidnapped girls

Talking out their options for the ransom;

Although the bright light of Helios shone

Upon their visages, their hearts were dark

With fear for the safety of their daughters,

Sisters, cousins, nieces – all in danger.

The sire of fair Kathros was arguably

Just as stoic as the rest, but perhaps

In his heart of hearts, more deeply afraid,

As he loved his daughter like the treasure

All so readily admitted she was.

Off to the side, but with a perfect view,

Meleager and Myiscus stood by,

Watching the ever-shifting scene of talk.

As well as his dear best friend, Myiscus

Had his sister among the hostages,

Making him anxious to be doing more.

The poet gently grasped his hand, shaking

Myiscus out of his fixed reverie.

“Meleager, I want to take up arms

And strike out to find them. There’s too much talk

And too little action to suit my tastes.”

“I know, my bold Myiscus, because when

The conferring fathers and relatives

Decide that a search party is called for,

You and I, and all of this poet’s friends,

Will be the first out of the city’s gates;

This I pledge, along with my life, to you.”

Hearing his belovèd’s unadorned words

Boosted the spirit of Myiscus, so

He tightened his hold on the poet’s hand,

Thanking him without any need of words.

While they were thus engaged in confidence,

Motion attracted the eyes of both men,

For the nursemaid of Kathros was there too.

This determined woman buzzed the outside

Of the groups of huddled elders like an

Excited hummingbird – all a flutter

Of arm, veils and tears. A flurry of sound

Escaped her mouth in the manner of wings

Flapping quicker than human perception

Could normally make out by observing.

“Look there,” Meleager said, gesturing,

“See how she bravely circuits the outside

Of the talking men like a kolímpri.”

“You’re right,” laughed Myiscus. “A hummingbird,

Unafraid to stop and stare a mere man

Dead in the eyes: her wordless fretting says

Time’s a-wasting! to the dithering males.

“She’s not alone in this anxious feeling”—

Myiscus slightly raised his partner’s hand

To place a kiss on the poet’s knuckles—

“You, Meleager, may want to be first

In the search party’s vanguard, but beware –

You’ll probably have to fight that woman

To even get out of the city gates first!”

The poet laughed, returning his boy’s kiss.

“I’ve no doubt, but love is love after all;

As long as we’re striving for the same goal,

Hers remains as valid as yours and ours.”

The dear price of exhaustion came to him,

And Myiscus walked into his man’s embrace

Relishing the comfort of the poet’s arms

Gently surrounding him, placing his head

On Meleager’s chest to hear his heartbeat.

The older caressed the younger man’s back.

“Even through uncertainty and worry

About Hymen, your sister and the girls,”

Crooned Meleager lightly, “I must say

You’ve made me the happiest man on Earth.”

Myiscus pulled back just enough to hold

The dreamy gaze of his belovèd’s eyes.

Teasingly – already knowing the answer –

Myiscus inquired, “So, now poet,

You’ll say my love has made all the difference?”

“Oh, yes – all the difference. Whereas before

My soul ached from the growing of its wings,

With you it now soars above the mundane,

Happy to stretch along with your spirit

Upon the warm currents of love aloft.”

Laughing, Myiscus joked good-naturedly

“Oh, what a burden to love a poet!

But I do love you; love you as I love

This existence, and now can’t imagine

It going on without you in my life.”

Slowly, Myiscus rose on his tiptoes,

And their lips came together for a kiss.

Lost together then for timeless moments,

Behind their closed eyelids and conjoined souls,

Gradual sounds of cheers penetrated.

As they could tell it swelled like a sea wave

Coming their way through the city.

Suddenly, small children burst into the square.

Their lips at first formed incoherent words,

But soon joined in a combined cheer: “They’re free!”

Immediately trailing them, a throng

Poured into the Agora from a street

Leading directly from the Timepiece Gate.

The applauding grew as the high priestess

Came leading Artemis’ acolytes

Into the city’s main gathering place.

First to swim through the abysmal people,

Kathros’ nursemaid located her young charge

And hugged the stuffing out of her, but then –

Turning slowly red – she buzzed like a hornet,

Stinging mad at how she had worried her.

In a minute more, all the girls were nabbed

By their servants, brothers and concerned friends.

Getting to the marketplace’s center,

The small band of un-kidnapped pilgrims stopped.

Amid the noise and buzz then, one by one,

The much-relieved fathers of the young girls

Made their way to their respective daughters.

Up to Kathros, Hymena and the maid,

The young woman’s progenitor arrived.

He smiled, hugging her from outright relief.

“Kathros, your mother is beside herself

Back at home with worry.” He grabbed her wrist.

“We must tell her the good news right away!”

Without much effort, Kathros resisted

The adamant tugging of her father,

And after having extracted her arm,

Placed her hand lovingly in Hymena’s.

The fidgety nanny cast aspersions

On this public display of affection.

Myiscus and Meleager arrived

With the young man’s younger sister in tow.

Kathros’ father, then realizing

He’d forgotten to ask the story, said,

“How came it to pass that all of you girls

Managed to escape your captors unharmed?”

Myiscus’ sibling chortled loudly,

Saying, “Oh, no. This will be quite a show!”

At the promise of spectacle, the nurse

Elbowed her way around Meleager

To stand in front of the tall young poet

Who had dared to formerly block her view.

While the question from her father lingered

Still in the air, Kathros cast a shy glance

Into the clear eyes of her belovèd.

Hymena was just about to speak when

The high priestess burst on the little group.

Her hand landed upon Hymena’s arm –

“By a heaven-sent miracle, good sir,

One blessed by no one less than The Goddess.”

Excited now and intrigued, the father

Repeated for anyone to tell him:

“What happened? Explain how you got away.”

“She saved us, Father, by her bravery;

Hymena alone stood up to those men

And kept me from the fate that’s worse than death.

She pulled a dagger and stabbed their leader,

Killing him, causing the others to flee

‘Fore a single girl’s virtue could be harmed.”

Kathros’ father, a truly gen’rous man,

Proudly strode up to Hymena, and then

Announced so the whole company might hear,

“I humbly thank you, and say that you may

Have anything I keep possession of.”

Hymena, in spite of herself, blushed pink;

What else in this situation could she

Think to say since this opportunity

Opened up before her like a flower.

“Love’s bright,” started she most tentatively,

“And where nothing was before, it can make

Man from a boy and woman from a girl.

From the dull purposelessness of living,

Make a being who knows why they were meant

To live a life where they’ll only die.

From the rules of chaos, only love stands

Above them all, as the absolute rule

Against which existence’s suffering

Can be measured. Alone, love can create.”

She turned her words on the general crowd,

Catching the anxious glint in the nurse’s scowl.

“I hid among your daughters and sisters

Not because I sought the better of them”—

She glanced into the eyes of her Kathros—

“But because my newformed heart keeps its

Better half within Kathros’ radiance.”

She continued to the young girl’s father,

Noting Nurse was hyperventilating,

“For that reason, I sought to be near her;

To secretly breathe her in all unknown,

For I love her more than words can define.

Please sir, with Kathros’ consent, grant that we

May spend the ages of life as spouses.”

And with this, Hymena genuflected

Before the girl’s father to await

The verdict of Fate to be cruel or kind.

All too much, trauma overcame her heart

And the nursemaid fainted with a whinny

Straight into the pert arms of the poet.

At this point, Hymena realized she’d

Forgotten to unmask her false disguise.

While the hushed crowd split intrigued glances twix

Kathros, her father and the girl knelt down

A supplicant before him, Hymena

Hastened to add, “But, sir, please be assured

The virginity of no one was lost,

And that also happens to include mine!”

The priestess vouched for the cosmic blessing.

“This union’s sanctified by Artemis,

The Great Goddess herself, please keep in mind….”

The poor progenitor, what could he do?

Although he’d had hopes for a marriage to

A fine upstanding man of the town,

Love’s love, and no father stands in its way,

Even though what’s being asked of him is

His most precious possession on dark Earth.

He lifted Hymena to eyelevel,

Inquiring plainly of his daughter,

“And you return the love of this person?”

“Yes, more than any other part of life.”

“Well, then,” he said, jostling Hymena’s neck,

“Wait till your mother sees who you’re bringing home,

But I’ll not stand in the way of true love,

Especially not one so heaven-matched!”

Romance was young again, and people sighed

Remembering the thoughts of their first love.

Desperate to be rejoined, Meleager

Transferred the still-blacked-out and groggy maid

For Myiscus’ sister to support.

The boys came together to hug and kiss.

Hymena and Kathros likewise drew close,

Clasping hands and sweet eyes at the center

Of the people waiting and cheering them.

Just as the lips of the two young ladies

Came together to seal their betrothal,

The maid roused to her senses, gazing up.

 

Seeing Kathros and some pretty girl kissing then,

The hefty woman fainted dead away again!

 

 

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