The Game Poem by Niko Tiliopoulos

(a true story, sort of)

The night the witches danced
I found myself passing through their forest,
a blind walker, carrying a sack of innocence.

Three they were,
but one the fire
and a circle they filled with spells.

‘For you we are here’

And to their dance they invited me to rest,
but from my soul they stole three ounces of gold.

‘We’ll play a game’ they said.
‘No! ’ I replied
‘My journey ahead is long’
and I cried like a child.

‘The game is called EXISTENCE
and think of nothing else;
as for your journey,
it is us who arrange it’

What could they mean with such words?

‘Let us play it them’
I said and moved closer.

…

‘I loved you’

cried one of them,
and inside my wonder she continued:

‘My name is Aname
and I was born by they fire
that burns your hands.
Look inside the depths of my sight
and recite the scripts of Hell’

So I dived in the red liquid of her tears
and I found myself reading the verses of the dead:

‘Cursed be those who have not spoken to love’

I couldn’t take anymore.
I broke the mirror and escaped.
And so the night fell again in the forest
and the moon showed to me the three witches
with the closest of them asking me:

‘Tell me, do you desire me? ’

‘No’
I replied,
and her place was taken
by the second shadow,
as she vanished in the mist.

…

‘I love you’

she mumbled shyly
and inside my wonder she continued:

‘My name is Etar
and I was born in the water
by the cries of the drowned lovers.
Dance deep inside my sight
and sing to me if the king is still alive’

I swam in her purple iris
and I found a land of wealth,
of joy, of happiness.

And there I was,
the King, the Pharaoh,
on my adamantine throne,
mesmerised by the song
of my followers:

‘Our king you will be
for as long as we need you’

And suddenly the witch was in front of me again,
and with a lighting that electrified my bones
she asked me:

‘Tell me, do you desire me? ’

‘No’
I replied,
and a sigh absorbed her in the night.

…

‘I will love you’

smiled at me the third figure,
and inside my wonder she continued:

‘My name is Rhosph
and I was born by the wind
that brings the ideas.
Fly inside my fair sight
and whisper to me the mysteries of the void’

I flew in a world of darkness,
observing the images of Hades,
shaping me, penetrating me…

And I was back in the forest
with the witch asking me
with fear in her voice:

‘Tell me, do you desire me? ’

‘No’
I replied,
and I was left alone,
as she was carried away by the clouds.

Then light scattered my body
and showed me the secrets of the universe,
but I didn’t manage to see them all
because the night had not fallen asleep yet.

The night the witches danced
I passed through their forest,
and though they lied about my journey,
wisdom they stole from my heart,
as it was always written.