Poem 127: FRAGMENTS OF GAWAIN

   gang /gyng

GATHERYNG

here @ midnight

the devil tells his matins

while according to the Wif

it is the Freres who say their matins

these unmagical incubi everywhere

banishing marvels

from Arthur's kingdom

but in the Tale is it a knight

who rapes a maiden

by a river

abalef...

ABCDEFGHIKLMNOPQRS
...arrested

The knight as monster:

reversal of escapist horizon

      So much for Gudrun's archaeological dig!

AGAIN, somewhere

with the forest's curtain drawn

sat the Green Knight

sawing sewing his head back on

but if the Green Knight is Dionysus

what does that make the King?

(Long ago, Pieris established the song as king.)

between these heads

between these famous heads

keeping clear, at last, of their age-old

unspeakably slow

battle à outrance

    to and fro, protected

    as well as might be expected

    behind a single name

    abalef run the fragments of Gawain