by Sara MacDonald
Traveller’s Guide to Thebes To go to Thebes you’ll need a map. Look in your imagination for the memory you’ve traced and encased. Note the Dionysian lines of its borders, both erratic and static, drawn by a drunk mathematician. People are commonly confused at the crossroads, three roads diverge, then swerve, and only finally converge, kind of like fate. Mind the chorus, a pack of mangy strays, they’ll follow you forever. At end, their song sings sense. You’ll wear weary of listening. Mind the chorus. Everyone expects heat; Hades is just down the road. (A little tourism humour). But the mountain’s mass casts long shadows. At dawn, climb Citharon, search for Oedipus there. A particularly raucous Bacchus, his frenzy favours family. Yes, I can see the resemblance. A distant cousin, some centuries removed? An oracle? I wouldn’t say, only take care of what you ask. You’ll be responsible for the answer. What does that mean? You’ll figure it out. Eventually.
Bio:
Sara MacDonald is a professor of Political Philosophy and Global Great Books at Huron University. A new poet, her work has been long listed for the International Poetry Contest at River Styx.
