☛ We are inviting submission in the field of literature and literary theory in the form of article, book review, poem, short story, travelogue and interview for our regular April issue (Vol. 6, No. 2). The last date for submission is 31 March, 2025.

THE RIDDLER OF EPHESUS

 


THE RIDDLER OF EPHESUS

 

-         John Eppel (South Africa)

 

The feather that drops on a dying rat

from a great white bird in the distant sky,

blue as the eyes of a Siamese cat,

forget-me-nots on an old straw hat…

is the symbol of lies that do not lie.

 

Heraclitus and his paradoxes:

boxes inside boxes inside boxes.

 

The feather that drops on a dying man

from a great black bird in the distant sky,

loud as the clang of a watering can,

sticks on the vellum go rat-rataplan…

is the symbol of lies that do not lie.

 

Heraclitus and his paradoxes:

boxes inside boxes inside boxes.

 

The feather that drops on a living child

from a great grey bird in the distant sky,

soft as a pillow stuffed with down,

ostrich plumes of a duster’s crown…

is the symbol of lies that do not lie.

 

 

 

 

 

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