Content Warning: dark themes
Matthew M.C. Smith - Reunion
Penelope and Odysseus
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In the harbour, the sails are shrouds. The town
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is a sleeping dog at its master’s feet.
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They lie in the heat of night, dark forms
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in silver light. With a gentle rise of wind,
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the palace and Royal room are cooled
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by the sea. She lies still, skin prickled,
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her body barely betraying breath.
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Her first finger rises, feels his ribs,
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smooths a ridge of strung muscle
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under his bow arm, a column of sinews.
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Now crouched, she kisses his neck,
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pursed lips touching a grizzled beard,
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a faint taste and smell of wine and salt.
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Her tongue is light on a whorl of skin,
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a scar from eye to cheek. His sleep
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is restless, a taut frame which she
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shapes and cups with her palm.
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Earlier, they crossed over, a pulsing,
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a piling of limbs, a shine of two swords
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clashing in Athena’s light; surging,
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heaving, rhythms of rapture and fall.
Matthew M. C. Smith is a writer from Swansea. He was brought up on Robert Graves and Roger Lancelyn Green classical stories. He is 'Best of the Net' nominated (2020) and his work can be read in Barren Magazine, Anti-Heroin Chic, Icefloe Press, The Lonely Crowd and Finished Creatures. Matthew is the editor of Black Bough poetry. Twitter: @MatthewMCSmith Insta: smithmattpoet
Photograph: Skies by Arun Kapur
Enigmatic. Charismatic. Passionate. Lover of life and all truth that binds us together. Arun Kapur is a mental health advocate that uses the medium of the arts to raise awareness of stigmas and well-being. Through poetry and film, he aims to amplify untold stories of unheard voices.