Though time has pressed forward the twice-born god always knew his trade, his enjoyment.
His Bacchanal eternally on the lips of those that attended as much as his blessing,
Though his original gift flowed less now than in the past,
He was still Dionysus, Bacchus, the Deliverer from Sorrow, the twice-born god of wine.
His followers still flocked to him, like pigeons to grain
And on occasion turned into locusts on fields at his command,
Even though they envisioned themselves friends now
An immortal has no friends aside for immortals, though.
They fell upon his soft, beardless features, singing his praises in loving tones
As they took in the youthful god and let him affect them as forever.
He took in their laughter, their joy, and their smiles as they forgot themselves
The point was always the merriment of losing troubles and agonies.
His gaze washed over the crowd like a pure spring from stones
And much to his surprise he caught sight of the peculiar beauty.
He often thought that Eros had tricked him as he had Apollo
And that she was now his Daphne, but he continued on. (1)
She was no nymph, merely spoken for and had been for a time
But, details did not halt the son of Semele (2) when they were not in his favor.
He loved whom he loved and for now, she was his eye
Yet, she hardly paid him the proper worship fit for the thirteenth god.
She was no priestess nor maenad, follower of Dionysus, and never visited his temple.
She did not partake of his blessing nor give into his celebration.
She was more Athena’s (3) child if that virginal goddess ever could claim one.
But, she suddenly sipped from a spirit and the Loud One’s attention was heightened.
He flowed to her like wine fresh from the vine as her delicate mouth continued.
They were already acquainted, the god having been struck some time ago.
Her presence pleased him when he decided to take root at his current location:
Some university in the West where angels seemed to gather.
If Zeus ever left Greece, surely he would have targeted her long ago,
So the Son of Thunder was pleased that he was the adventurous god
As he would readily admit to being no match for the King of Gods,
Although he seemed to be no match for the object of his lust, Annika Axon.
He wasted no time engaging her, the fair Ann as she was known.
She had promised herself to an older mind and for him had forsaken the god’s intent.
Dionysus was not swayed, his mission now his fondness
And so they continued in their discourse and he made sure her cup was never empty.
Her laughter twice the heaven of the others as she took in his blessing.
She explained her presence at his festival; a companion pulled her from her duty
A paper, not of medicine, that she had become a slave to, shackled to her desk for days, dismayed.
He made a note to thank her cohort properly, especially if she were to be his.
She was expected to “relax,” an order to be sure, and she should do her best lest her friend be wrathful.
The Twice-born doubted that the friend could be filled with wrath once inhaling his gift,
For he preferred happiness, although rage did often follow his merriment,
But he would make things to his desire as he was the Son of Thunder.
They spoke casually as always, as they were “friends.”
Bacchus had made his existence “known” to her when she had caught his eye
Months had past, yet she was not his, as if Eros had cursed him, again the thought.
Perhaps Aphrodite (4) had cursed them both, but she rarely crossed the great seas.
Ann complained of her “master” and how she should return
There was a break through of some kind, yet she had put it down to the future
His ears intent and his listening with interest quite genuine as the discourse morphed into substance,
For her mind was one of the reasons that he chose to love her.
Her beauty was another easily, as beauty was made to be loved and admired.
She seemed fond of his own, but watched her tongue lest he get the “wrong” idea.
His company was as pleasant as his features and temperament to her knowledge
But, she was with the one made for her and would never detach from him.
Dionysus smiled more than ever while he exchanged words with his love. The topic: nerves,
Which he had plenty. No voice ever warmed him so and he considered that he now knew
What it was like to be intoxicated, as if in some delicate, delightful dream
He would never bemoan his current state and refused to want relief from the drug.
Her cheeks now rosed over, getting more scarlet with each taste of the blessing.
Her eyes, the color of the afternoon sky when Helios (5) was without company, were heavy;
Those eyes seemed to know Atlas’ burden (6) as they struggled to mind their place
The Liberator knew a chance when presented and never thought twice as an immortal.
The Other Delphic God (7) seized his desire and immediately took her from that place,
Away from those that celebrated his gifts with robust chant and cheer,
Away from those that praised his name and unknowingly worshipped him through him.
He would visit another temple and show Ann the love of the divine.
Her legs did not fail her, though her mind seemed to be behind. He said nothing.
Through the dark, he walked with her to avoid the disturbance of the crowds
To her domain they returned where he spied her “master,” sitting silently in peace.
The walls—quiet as the air, the god would have his way with the darkness as a witness.
Without compliant, they lay together, mixing as wine was meant to do.
That night Ann took in the twice-born god in more ways than she intended,
Her senses dulled while his enhanced and quite pleased to be able to love her.
He was certain that she would see reason and should remain with the thirteenth god.
And at the height of their time, the dream clashed soundly with reality, like enemies in battle.
The dream came out inferior, for she cried out a name that was far from the god’s
His desire panted beneath him unaware of his nature and his existence as she loved just one.
From her lips, her true and only love’s name came much like a thanks and a prayer: James.
Usually an immortal would detest such a thing, curse the couple for such embarrassment.
But, Dionysus suddenly preferred to realize his mistake; how ungodlike.
Perhaps his love truly had surpassed lust as affection for it had affected him, afflicted him.
How could he possibly give back what he had taken with silent, drunken consent?
Sleep had already come over Ann and he told Morpheus (8) what she should see while there.
Morpheus, in an agreeable mood, took in the wine god’s wishes.
So while Ann dreamed what Dionysus commanded, he made other rounds,
Taking with him Morpheus to do one last thing for the night before retiring from her life.
When the morning star arose, two bodies felt its warmth mingled weakly with their own.
Eyes the color of the earth opened to glance at the time and then at another,
Just to check to see if the night had been a satisfying delusion or something more.
There she lay against his side, him as her adored pillow; proof that he had not imagined their night.
He pressed her closer to his side and she affectionately whispered his name into his skin.
He could not help his lopsided smile and merely took in the sight of an angel,
Believing that he had been blessed to have a woman as lovely as she.
He would cherish his Ann like some priceless gem, he vowed to the ceiling.
Thoughts of the night danced through his mind, unknown a present from Morpheus.
The dream god was careful, making for believable events for no suspicions.
Showing Ann’s beloved the same scenes that she had seen from his own perspective to be proper.
Absent the intruder, the God of Wine, to set things as right as it was allowed.
And so the lovers believed that they had spent the night in each other’s arms,
With the thought that a kind friend had driven Ann to James upon the angel’s request
And she was not half as impaired as she had been when she was made to “relax.”
So, they loved each other that night as they had on other occasions.
They loved each other that morning too when Ann’s mind had settled,
Having been a bit shaken from imbibing the gift of the admiring god
The kindly James returned her to her dorm as the evening star approached, reminding her of his affection.
She then put her mind back to her “master” to continue on with her days and duties.
With the passing of many days, the consequences of that night were made clear.
The lovers were contented to find that Ann was with a child, although it did perplex the couple.
It was not a habit to them to go unprepared, yet they recalled that they had that night
And they trusted their memories as much as they did their hearts.
They were wed as was always the scheme, just sooner than imagined.
Ann bore them a beautiful daughter that they enjoyed when she arrived,
Her smiling face so much like her mother, but her other features were quite foreign
With deeper red hair than the one that bore her, much like poured wine, and dark grape green eyes.
The birth was celebrated all the same with overjoyed, grinning parents and grandparents.
None of the parties ashamed at such a precious little addition that they did adore to infinite.
She was a tender treasure, already loved and would be cared for despite obstacles.
As her creators did have other tasks, but she was never viewed as a hindrance, but a blessing.
Assistance was provided for the elated parents, so they should not have to shelve their dreams.
Graduations were had and careers were gained, each being rapid climbers with their choices.
They built a life together with their child whom they had dubbed Kimberly.
And Kimberly would grow up to find that she could do the impossible.
Supposedly the trait ran in the genes of the family she was born into: Possible.
It was known around the rings of many immortals, the truth of the matter;
Kimberly was the daughter of the Loud One, having his eyes, but not his manner.
Who knew that Dionysus bred heroes in a similar fashion to his father? It was almost comical. (9)
The end…or the beginning.
Well, that’s my weird one-shot; Kim is a demi-god. If anyone wants to grab this idea and run with it, just let me know. And no, this wasn’t really supposed to be a poem, but a poem-like story.
References:
1: the myth goes that Eros (Cupid) shot Apollo with an arrow for love when he fell for Daphne, but shot her with an arrow to drive love away, so she did not return Apollo’s love. Apollo chased her because of his deep love and to get away, Daphne pled for help from a river god. She was turned into a laurel tree, which Apollo then claimed as his tree since his love was gone.
2: Semele was Dionysus’ mortal mother who was loved by Zeus. She was tricked by Hera, Zeus’ wife, into having Zeus reveal himself to her in his godly form, which burned her to a crisp. Zeus was able to save the fetus of Dionysus and he sewed the baby up in his thigh to grow to full term. Dionysus was born from Zeus’ thigh and became fully immortal. The birth story is why he’s called “twice-born.”
3: Athena is the goddess of wisdom (among a lot of other things). She was one of the three virgin goddesses. The other two are Artemis and Hestia.
4: Aphrodite is the goddess of love. (The bit about her not crossing “great seas” is something I made up).
5: Helios is the sun god.
6: Atlas is the titan that was punished with having to hold up the sky by Zeus.
7: “The Other Delphic God” is a reference to Dionysus as he sat in the oracle of Delphi during certain times of the year. The temple was Apollo’s though.
8: Morpheus is the god of dreams and the son of the god of sleep.
9: Usually heroes had at least one god for a parent, but really great heroes had Zeus for a father. Dionysus, who may or may not have had offspring depending on certain myths, was not a god for heroes in any way. He was fun-loving partier and most of his followers were women. He was not a warrior and did not take part in battles. He also did not really take on lovers as frequently as other gods did, so even if he did have children, he would not have had as many as other gods.