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“Hanged Man, Strength, The Moon” by Iggy Q. Roquefort
Today we present a poem by Iggy Q. Roquefort, a rat writer from the glitzy desert who holds its cards close to its chest. You can find more of its squeaking antics on Bluesky @squeaknow.site.
Read for you by Rob MacWolf — werewolf hitchhiker.
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https://thevoice.dog/episode/hanged-man-strength-the-moon-by-iggy-q-roquefort
Transcript
You’re listening to Poetry Month on The Voice of Dog.
Speaker:This is Rob MacWolf,
Speaker:your fellow traveler,
Speaker:and Today we present a poem
Speaker:by Iggy Q. Roquefort,
Speaker:a rat writer from the glitzy desert
Speaker:who holds its cards close to its chest.
Speaker:You can find more of its squeaking antics on Bluesky
Speaker:@squeaknow.site.
Speaker:Please enjoy “Hanged Man, Strength,
Speaker:The Moon”, a poem by Iggy Q. Roquefort
Speaker:a lamp aglow to keep my yellow eyes from tiring
Speaker:lights a fellow of
Speaker:small size with vines of hemlock falling from his crown.
Speaker:his easy grin infects me with its glee and i say,
Speaker:"good to see a friendly face,
Speaker:a countenance with style and patience such that you must be the one so long i sought.”
Speaker:we walk the desert's trails untreaded, just to see if years of silence past stop us from learning
Speaker:what it is that keeps our hearts as intertwined as tristan and isolde.
Speaker:his tears, they tell the lion's share of truths
Speaker:unwelcome in politest company,
Speaker:the wine-dipped pacifiers and the fights with mothers wanting and expecting all the joys that come
Speaker:with birthing late in life.
Speaker:his tender new-grown skin reflects the moon
Speaker:and my breath catches on the poison smoke
Speaker:that softens blows of blades and boyfriends, too.
Speaker:he says, "the wounds i share.
Speaker:the rest i keep." and i lay bare the truth of what i do.
Speaker:"o manéd king of beasts," i cry, "it's you whose roaring kept me from my darkest path.
Speaker:without you, i see naught but mirrored halls where sins reflected true-to-life paint me as truest friend
Speaker:and greatest enemy.
Speaker:you swore, with drunken breaths, to watch me retch and kill me after.
Speaker:and a chance like this will not appear again for you or i.
Speaker:unsheathe your golden sword, my royal friend,
Speaker:and cut me down with best intentions shorn from our long fight like so much heavy wool.
Speaker:there is no absolution in defeat,
Speaker:but my demise tonight will be a gift -- no more betrayal than a swift divorce." and
Speaker:quick as desert winter ends, so too
Speaker:does he release a dagger from his belt,
Speaker:one crystalline and set with stones that scream of empty eyes and final blows,
Speaker:a knife to bring to any gunfight in the west.
Speaker:i close my eyes and hope to rest this time,
Speaker:no screeching demons, witches, or the fae
Speaker:to haunt my sleep and ravage all my dreams.
Speaker:"get up," he says, "and walk this path with me.
Speaker:i do not want annulment,
Speaker:nor more blood upon my damage-numbéd paws. young one, i ask again,
Speaker:stand up and join me, now.
Speaker:now." there is no countering the words i hear,
Speaker:and as i stand, it then appears that we are equals in the moon's approving glow.
Speaker:through mountain trails and caves of rust, he keeps his dagger held aloft as if to strike,
Speaker:should any spirit-creature come to call,
Speaker:or should a weak and heartless thing like me forget their place and curse the world again.
Speaker:the gleam of rubies, princess cut, between his knuckles makes me sweat as i recall
Speaker:the old adage,
Speaker:"forgive, but don't forget.
Speaker:forget." This was “Hanged Man, Strength, The Moon”
Speaker:by Iggy Q. Roquefort,
Speaker:read for you by READER,
Speaker:with CALLSIGN.
Speaker:Thank you for listening
Speaker:to The Voice of Dog.
