PROMETHEUS UNBOUND

by Ruben Cuevas

I shall never exchange my fetters for slavish servility.

'Tis better to be chained to the rock than be bound to the service of Zeus.

--Aeschylus, Prometheus Unbound

Mars shall glow tonight,

Artemis is out of sight.

Rust in the twilight sky

Colors a bloodshot eye,

Or shall I say that dust

Sunders the sleep of the just?

Hold fast to the gift of fire!

I am rage! I am wrath! I am ire!

The vulture sits on my rock,

Licks at the chains that mock

Emancipation's breath,

Reeks of death, death, death.

Death shall not unclench me.

I am earth, wind and sea!

Kisses bestow on the brave

That defy the damp of the grave

And strike the chill hand of

Death with the flaming sword of love.
Orion stirs. The vulture

Retreats from the hard, pure

Thrust of the spark that burns,

Unbounds, departs, returns

To pluck out of death's fist

A god who dared to resist.