Theseus

Theseus

By Jax Soon-Legaspi

theseus is young, a youth

some pubescent long limbed child

delusions of grandeur fill his belly and block his ears

i am sixteen

the maze lies ahead

he shivers as he enters

cool shade lapping at his cheeks like seawater around a drowning boy

the sheets of my bed grow like vines around me

constricting around my statuette arms, inhaling green ivy and kudzu

he is a story; there is only one path to take

he cannot write himself into something different

fate, indifferent, weaves him into nothing

late or nonexistent, belief in tomorrow is waning

seawater and ivy grip my shoulders

force their way down my throat

drag my heart up through the vocal cords

onto the tongue and cracked lips

theseus feels more child than man between

the cold walls of my childhood bedroom

from the centre of the labyrinth echoes the rumble of a future fast approaching

rib-shaking like a falling redwood

i am more child than man