For Ariadne

Rise, O Ariadne, from your couch
Rise and be seen
From between the tangled writhing limbs
From behind the curling vines
Come, O Ariadne, and incline to my prayer:

Breeze alighting on flushed skin
Water chasing wine’s sting
A quiet corner amid the orgiastic rites
Raise a hand to stay the Bacchic Ones
And be present, Ariadne

Clever, pensive, brilliant
Never dainty, never perfect
Nor golden haired ever were you
A princess who threw her crown to the stars
Forsaking power for love
Forsaking wealth for freedom

You have closed the eyes of the dread-dancer, now
She is sleeping:
Twice struck by Perseus
By spear that pierced the wedding gown
By dread gorgon’s gaze
And rose from deepest hell
To lay aside battle-dance
For more tender things
Yet your vivacious limbs
Have never forgotten their skill

Hail to Ariadne
The Lady of the Labyrinth
Keeper of the Sacral Knot
Whose nine-rayed and heavenly crown
Is wreathed with roses and with ivy
Hail to You
Who rides on panther’s back
Who tames the wild
Who frees the tamed

Come, O Dancer on Wet Paint,
O Untangler of Impossible Problems
O Vanquisher of Madness.
Come, O Ariadne
And lift from us the burdens of ecstasy
Let it never be for us that wine becomes like water
But rather
Show us the quiet between the Bacchic Rites
That intoxication never loses its sting.