Aphelion Issue 292, Volume 28
March 2024
 
Editorial    
Long Fiction and Serials
Short Stories
Flash Fiction
Poetry
Features
Series
Archives
Submission Guidelines
Contact Us
Forum
Flash Writing Challenge
Forum
Dan's Promo Page
   

Unicorn

by David Blalock


Great Unicorn with head held low,
Still damning its own power,
In self-defense, its horn aglow,
Will trod a newborn flower.

Magnificent in stance and flight,
Ferocious when aroused,
Will not deny or shun the sight
Of soul in lusting doused.

Without control of leash or rein,
A juggernaut of raw life;
And only through great effort sane
Enough to see the gilt knife
Whose edge it trods with every breath
Meaning ego's life or death.


© 1998 David Blalock

Author's Note: I have written a series of poems around the Arabic image of the unicorn: winged and black. It represents the baser instincts in man in a way that is not conveyed by the more western unicorn. Although westerners allow that the nature of the beast can only be tamed by the innocence of a virgin, they do not address the why of that assertion. I have tried to capture that reason in these poems.

Find more by David Blalock in the Author Index.

Comment on this story in the Aphelion Forum

Return to Aphelion's Index page.