Muse of Tragedy
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Melpomene, Muse of Tragedy,
we come to greet you,
clad in dark attire,
wearing widows’ weeds,
faces covered in ashes,
the mask of sorrow,
weeping for the world.
The vast tragedy of it all.
Yet seeing the beauty
in every small miracle,
the heaven in the disaster zone.
O Melpomene, let us sing your goat-song,
so we do not forget.
So we remember and honour.
Work through our grief,
dance our sorrow
and let go when we’re done.
Move on, move on.
Let not our grief become our identity.
It is only a mask, a costume,
for the danse macabre.
The sun still shines; the birds still sing.
The world still turns, saying, Begin! Begin!
Aid us to heal conflict,
to bring peace
through understanding, through empathy.
Time to stop playing soldiers;
time to put down our guns.
Time to dismantle the warheads;
time to defuse the bombs.
Melpomene, from your deep heart
bring peace, end suffering.
You know the depths of humanity’s sorrow.
Listen and release it. So.
From ‘House of the Moon’ by Kevan Manwaring
featured in the forthcoming collection Silver Branch: bardic poems, Awen 2018.
