The Minotaur

The perspective of the Minotaur. Third in the Modern Metamorphoses poems.

The Minotaur

Who am I?

Can you not see from my

jagged brow which lifts to sky

two ivory towers? My crown

given by gods and blown

full around my skull

when I learnt to chew and pull,

not on tasteless pulpous mulch

but on stringent throbbing flesh.

The best wine comes fresh

from fruit that screams when pressed.

My father also screamed when I was born

and torn clean from my mother’s womb.

My father, the king, who left me

when my horns were not grown and heavy

was my head to, in solitude, fend.

And no one would shed a tear or lend

a hand to this half child. Sorrow to lows,

and around me my palace grows,

the Labyrinth. It protected me

but it also starved me,

for grass grows not on stone

and I was alone. Alone

until the first offering

stumbled into my dwelling.

And I was so starved that

I saw not fearful man but the fat

of the land. His blood swept down my throat -

I revived and saw my bloated

figure, thick with muscle, matted with hair,

towering, powerful in my open lair.

 

Who am I?

I am what you made me,

Nothing more.

There is no Golden Thread

For the Minotaur.

Author's Note

All reviews are welcome - try and find something to criticize (it'll help).

Reviews

[Jennifer Johnston]

I really enjoyed this! A lot of the phrasing you use is fresh and untried. It makes for very interesting reading. In revision, I think you can try and play around with word usage, and especially meter. I see you have a mostly AA, BB rhyme scheme, and I like it, but I would see if you can't break up certain lines to make the meter fit better. If the meter comes together more sharply, I think this will feel like a song a bard would sing :) nice work!

[Joshua Rawlins]

I'm very pleased that you enjoyed this poem, and I'm grateful for the criticism (it made me reflect on the poem a bit) however I decided on this style to show broken sentences - I thought it would do a couple different things, such as show the supposed smooth sentences being broken thus reflecting the facade the minotaur is putting up, perhaps also reflecting the double meaning of the labyrinth. I will reflect on the rhythm a bit, but I don't think that I'll be changing much.
If you want to read a poem that's done in more of an ode style, try out my other poem The Mermaid. It's the first one I've done, but I've reworked it recently, so hopefully it's much better. Please continue reading my work, I enjoy reading what people thought of the poem as well as their interpretation. I'm looking forward to any other reviews you may have.