Odin and Loki, My Brother, My Enemy.
Summer afternoon, and every rook in the city
is crowded into one elm tree
disputing possession.
A weather-beaten one-eyed man
in a silver lamé shirt,
his broad-brimmed hat dripping with corks,
crooks out his arm
and off they stream behind him.
At the ice-cream stall
a woman with impossible hair,
designer jeans, a shot-silk shirt,
buys a six-mix with sprinkles
and turns, arching a brow,
“Brother…”
the one-eyed man nods,
“Brother…”
Under the crow-swirled sky,
the dappling shade of elm leaves
writhing into exclamations,
Odin takes the cone
as laughing Loki bites off the end.
May 2013.
I wrote this as one of the stretch goals for the incredibly successful Sundown Kickstarter. Sundown: Whispers of Ragnarok is a musical retelling of Norse Mythology, written by Ada Palmer and performed by Sassafrass. I also wrote several other poems for the Kickstarter which are available as part of the libretto.
