The Minotaur's Motif

(I)
The faeries and the pixies spun
Bright dust in golden cloth
Until there roused the beating sound
Of wings born on a moth.

(II)
This woke him from his slumber deep
Within the cabin’s hull
And as the moth flew past his keep,
There stood the Cretan Bull.

Oh, have you seen the lightning burst
That burns like dragon’s flame?
The ones who hear the thunderclap
Forever speak his name.

(III)
Tauros became his namesake's keep.
From his homeland he fled
As there the king of doom decreed
The Cretan Bull was dead.

(IV)
From in the labyrinth’s holding cell,
Tauros gave up one horn
To signify his passage which
Left none in Crete to mourn.

(V)
Emerging as a hero's brand,
Theseus told the land
He tamed the Minotaur within,
The horn held in his hand.

(VI)
He said 'twas quite a battle won,
Like thunder booming loud
Thus henceforth Athens would be free,
This Tauros' death allowed.

(VII)
In order to trick cruel Minos,
The king of Crete’s brave shore
A death was feigned for Tauros and
He would be back no more.

(VIII)
In secret he sailed o’er and o’er
While back home people cheered
For through his “death” there came much life,
Minos no longer feared.

(IX)
Now Tauros has his own new life,
Adventuring before
The bounds of social labels found
Behind his cabin door.

(X)
In Crete, they say they hear him roar
Each time the thunder booms
And have a merry minute since
King Minos met his doom.

Oh, have you seen the lightning burst
That burns like dragon’s flame?
The ones who hear the thunderclap
Forever speak his name.

James Matthew Byers is a published author(Grecian Rune, 2004) and a father of two. He has been married to his wife, Dorothea, for seven years. Currently, he teaches Special Education at St. Clair County High School in Odenville, AL. He resides with his family and two cats in Rainbow City, AL.

Find more by James Matthew Byers in the Author Index.

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