ariadne in waves

after ‘Poem 64’ by Catullus

i am in waves

the sea eats my hope
in its open throat

i wade naked

stripped of dignity
only salt & air to pity me

i & the ocean alone

watch the ship slip
into the horizon, the final blip

in the story of my life.

i will die here of sorrow
curled in the furrow

of cruel theseus’s

sweaty brow,
i know absolutely now

i was already nothing to him

when i took that red thread
& used it to make my brother dead.

though he spilled the blood

i was complicit
& my abandonment will not elicit

soft pity

in anyone’s heart
because back at the start

i could have done it differently

i could have done it better
but i was always ariadne

& no one ever let her.

Hebe Kearney

Hebe Kearney is a poet and librarian who lives in Tāmaki Makaurau. Their work has appeared in publications including: Mantissa Poetry Review, Mayhem, samfiftyfour, Symposia, Tarot, takahē, and Poetry New Zealand Yearbooks. You can find them at @he__be on Instagram.