He knew his wife was sleeping with somebody else
but he didn't know it was Ares.
He just knew Aphrodite
was fucking somebody that wasn’t him.
That’s important.
So Hephaestus must have devised the chains
he hung atop his wife’s bed sturdy
enough to trap Zeus,
the strongest of the gods.
He must have fashioned them to withstand
the earthquakes of Poseidon
and the sharp rust of Hades.
Clever enough that swift footed Hermes
- a trickster- could not escape.
Those chains had to bind
tight enough to ensnare the madness
of Dionysus writhing ecstatically,
and to outlast the burning songs of Apollo
or the terrible rage and fury of Ares.
The links had to be able
to endure all these possibilities. I ask
what was going through his mind
as Hephaestus
was in his workshop
making chains that could hold a god.
___
The Poet: William Wright Harris's poetry has appeared in fifteen countries in such publications as Poetry Salzburg Review, The Cannon’s Mouth, Ascent Aspirations, andWrite On!!! He attained his BA in English Literature from the University of Tennessee and is currently a graduate student in DePaul University’s MA in Writing and Publishing program. He is currently employed at the Art Institute of Chicago, selling audio guides.
The Artist: Brett Stout is a 33-year-old artist and writer. He is a high school dropout and former construction worker turned college graduate and Paramedic. He creates art while mainly hung-over from a small cramped apartment in Myrtle Beach, SC.
The Artist: Brett Stout is a 33-year-old artist and writer. He is a high school dropout and former construction worker turned college graduate and Paramedic. He creates art while mainly hung-over from a small cramped apartment in Myrtle Beach, SC.
