Dora sent forth swans
to plunder low self-esteem,
to ravage the casual insults people spread,
to abolish bullying in all forms.

The people were taken aback.
Retreated from the white feathers, black faces
and yellow-orange bills.
They feared the fate of the Children of Lir.

The people sought recourse
for the theft of guaranteed freedoms.
They called upon their congressional representatives.
They petitioned Saint Hugh of Lincoln.

Dora recalled her swans
just before their necks stiffened out of their lovely curves.

---

copyright 2019 Kenneth P. Gurney

POSTSCRIPT

The Children of Lir were turned into swans by their stepmother. See Wikipedia for more about the Irish myth. (Why is it that stepmothers are wicked in the old stories?)

Saint Hugh’s animal symbol is a white swan. Wikipedia Entry on St. Hugh.

When I was in high school I became a voracious reader of mythologies. Being that my ancestors were from the British Isles, I focused at first on Irish, Welsh, Scottish and British Celtic mythologies. Soon I branched over to Norse and the other Scandinavian Countries. In school I had picked up the Greek and Roman. Eventually, I read about India and China’s Mythologies. It seems I moved across the European & Asian continents geographically. I have read very little about native American beliefs.

What sparked my interest? Teen rebellion? No that is not it. More like teen curiosity. It was that time of my life where I began to question all I was taught and religion/spirituality was part of that questioning. (I did not question being a Cubs fan or that baseball was the best sport ever invented.)

Love & Light

Kenneth