The Labyrinth Beneath Our Feet
By Peter Devonald
The city is full of memories
Once you dig beneath the surface
Hidden tunnels of history lead you
Deaths, destiny and disasters
Marriages, movies and melodies
Walk on, walk on, walk on.
Elaborate and as confusing as life itself
Intricate passageways and blind alleys
Dead ends, cul-del-sacs, false doors
That lead to impossible places
Complex tunnels and chambers
Cunningly created to contradict and confuse.
The Minotaur is held deep within
Imprisoned by Minos it roams perpetually
Head and tail of a bull, the body of the man
Lost in the labyrinth of its own mind
Doomed to snarl and storm and sneer
Till destiny tells its tail.
If you listen closely
Closely
You can hear it roar
If you listen closely
Closely
It still roams the maze beneath us.
We are all Theseus
Leaving thread to enable us to find a way back
Stepping into the darkness
Getting in too deep
To kill the Minotaur
Of our unconscious fears.
Deeper and deeper into darkness
Thread runs out,
Sword, club and hands to end
The Minotaur’s torment
The labyrinth as deep and dark as memory
The whole city built upon this lie.
Remember to fly the white flag
As the desire paths strive and stride
Into our future, create our own way
On the bones of those who have gone before
Every footstep cruel in its final act
So many have walked the same way.
Peter Devonald is poet in residence at Haus-a-rest, regular columnist for Culture/ Arts, and Heart Of Heatons poetry winner. 45 poems published / forthcoming 2022: Artist's Responding to..., Forget-Me-Not Press, Dwell Time Press, Greenhouse, 5 issues haus-a-rest, Dear Politicians: Ecopoetry, RIVISTA, Suburban Witchcraft, Sixpence Society, ArtLove02, Dirigible Balloon, Shallot, Spoonie, Substantially Unlimited: Stigma, Bolton Breakdown and Wishbone Words. Manchester based, Peter runs monthly 8 word poetry for Heaton/ Cheadle/ Didsbury Post. 5 group shows including Tender Stems, Chronically Online Culturable Layered Onion. Featured Poetic Map of Reading. 50+ film awards, former mentor Peter Ustinov Awards (iemmys) and Children’s Bafta nominated.