Derdriu

Illustration by Svenja Gosen

Fragment of a long poem, Derdriu, which relies heavily on a version of the Derdriu myth by the poet John Duffy in The Constancy of Stone.  I wanted to empower Derdriu with Goddess-like attributes. Give her, for a while at least, choice within her overall fate, that she might have her own domain, a freedom in the woods, a sense of her own life, and not merely at the whim of Connachar, a part of 'his' story. And in associating her with, in some way, Artemis, I wanted to bring Irish and Greek myth together.

...She approaches the warrior,
One of Connachar's men,
Who seems to him
Like a witch of the forest
Until close-up, a goddess,
Her yellow hair and green eyes
Have him cowering and transfixed.
She shames him first
By asking 'boy or man',
And fearing her fate with Connachar
Seduces him quickly, boldly:
'What use is a heiffer in the woods
If there is no bull'.
Noisiu grabs at his spear
Then chases her
With the speed of a lustful stag
Being granted Derdriu's permission.
Derdriu enjoys the chase like a joyful bird
Mirroring the shapes
         Of its own shadows,
Noisiu, pursuing at times
Only pollen or musk,
Follows his nose
Down every dirt track,
Through hollowed-out hedges
And burrows, across the bluebell
Woods, cleaving a mist rising
Over a carpet of meadowsweet
And stachys, to a sun-stunned
Clearing where they both stumble
On their own breath and desire...