The Unicorn Continues

In jet black skies a flurry's hear and
    wings beat loud.
The breath of fire whispers words that
    blow through cloud.
In lonely flight the Unicorn thinks
    on life's goal
And snorts in wonder that it feels a
    warmth, not cold.
Its hooves alight on aerie crag and
    sparks are struck
Like fleeting mem'ries born and lost through
    curse or luck.
It folds the wings and looks about the
    high rock perch,
Then introspects and learns it's found part
    of its search.
To realize the quest may end in
    part gives pause;
A hesitation to review its
    inborn laws;
A reassessment always painful
    to the beast
Because its conscience does not falter
    in the least
To reaffirm past guilt and torture
    its quick mind
Or gloat in perverse pleasure at what
    it may find
To cause more pain as beast rebels 'gainst
    Fate's strict line.

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.