My Own Hymn to Adonis
In honor of Venus' stationing direct
I’ve been deep in the research and writing of Part 2 of my commentary on the Orphic Hymn to Adonis. It’s been a slow haul because my Libra-rising ass has been laid low during the Venus retrograde with an uptick of long-COVID-related fatigue and brain fog. Chronic illness is one of those half-dead/half-alive states that characterize Adonis, so I suppose it shouldn’t be a surprise to me that immersing myself in Their hymn would coincide with a resurgence of my symptoms.
BUT…during this time, a poem to Adonis came to me unbidden one day on the street—so fast and immediate that I had to dictate it into my phone rather than stop to write it down. Though short, it is unmistakably a hymn, and the fact that it came to me that way, almost like a haunting, seems appropriate.
I present it to you here as a gift to you all, and to Venus, lover of Adonis, as She stations direct. I’d love to hear how this poem resonates with you, since it’s the first of my own work I’m sharing here.
The imagery, I think, will be best understood when read alongside my original essay and translation “Haunted by Adonis,” as well as Part 1 of the Commentary to the Hymn, both of which explore how Adonis helps us understand the Mystery of non-duality.
Be well, and be on the lookout in the next week or two for Part 2 of the Commentary. It’s going to be full of juicy esoteric details on Adonis’ relationship with the stars!
Until then,
✨Kristin✨
Adorn me, Adonis
With your half-dead eyes
Your half-lived life a circlet round my head
A choker of Aphrodite’s tears
My only jewels
Let me lick the salt off your lips’ down
Taste Persephone’s ancient grief on your waxy skin
Bury my head in your double lap
Girl meets boy meets Death
meets Life as you rise, stillborn
among the stars. Adonis,
You must, always and everywhere, be met with twin cries of lamentation and praise
For you presence those untimely gone
You, the undead
You, the fragile beauties of the cosmos
as it breaks—as they break—
in two
“Adorn me, Adonis” ©2023 Kristin Mathis. You may use this hymn for your private devotions, but please do not reproduce or republish (other than to share this post) without written permission of the author.