Sahriv/Tempest

Canto I

Sov/Air

by Shoshana

I  SOV/AIR            

The lion knows he is prey –

     There is no escape

          From the tempest stirring

               Whirlwind from another world.

Once before you saw the nascent storm  

You acted midwife to its unexpected end

     A stillbirth abrupt and violent

          And deceptively unbloody

     Suffered in brief travail

          On bitter red sands of an arid planet

     A world whose legacy you cannot evade

For you have joined your fate to those sands

     Though they lie many light-years distant.  

This time the storm must rage on

     To its tumultuous conclusion

Alone you must face its savage force 

     You are the storm’s target

          Its destined landfall

You will stand naked in the eye of its fury

     A ferocity that has been known to kill

And though you choose the danger

     The lion is afraid.

Already this gathering turbulence

     Has carried me far . . .

          So far . . .

               Away from you . . .

          Yet hurtles me back   

     Into your waiting arms.

Buffeted by the gusting wind

     You make no attempt to flee

     Or seek sanctuary

Resolute, you wait

     For the inchoate cyclone to coalesce.   

You will not forsake me

Nor abandon me to death

     In the coming convulsion. 

Onslaught unloosed

     The storm falls upon its victim

          No refuge now –

               Nowhere to hide –  

                    So you surrender  

                         And the storm claims you

                              As my own.

Notes for Canto I:     Sahriv:  Vulcan for “storm”      “Leonard” derives  

from Germanic words meaning “like a lion” or “lion brave/hardy”