GAVDIA MINOTAVRI - The Joys of the Minotaur

Man, ever a chimerical creature, is trapped in the most illustrious prison to have ever been fashioned. But the only question worth asking is whether the creature is more Daedalus or the minotaur? Our species has debased the act of entrapment in and of itself into a kindness. Billions of would be Daedaluses have built many millions of facsimiles of Knossos to trap minotaurs into worlds they may comprehend. Into struggles they may endure. For in a world built on understanding, the unknown is uncomfortable and the unfathomable is violently divine.

The minotaur is ever the imposing beast when trapped within the labyrinth. When the world outside seems so very distant and its whims are catered to as long as it cannot leave. Mankind is much the same. The minotaur had no conception of Theseus until he materialized, and unable to glimpse the world beyond the walls of Knossos, he never sat to question his unnatural place in this world.  He was content. But we, who have by the powers of our ingenuity glimpsed beyond those walls, now envy the minotaur. Mankind sees the larger freedom and reenacts the smaller instead. It seeks chains and collars such as "purpose" and "meaning" to pretend the freedom is smaller than it truly is.

And one might ask - what of that minotaur who, whether by guile or by luck, finally glimpsed the splendors of the stars and the sun?

(Explanations:

Being bedridden for a week, I had nothing but time to think. I wrote The Joys of the Minotaur for two reasons. The first was practical. You know those Metal songs that use like a small speech before the actual song? These are usually from books or television etc but I've always wanted to write one of those.

As I was doodling on that, I found myself thinking about what to say. I thought about the philosophical texts that I find most inspirational. In this case Plato's Allegory of the Cave came to mind. I am a big believer in that, that mankind not only fears what it doesn't understand but that it will happily jump into chains to feel in control. That it will pretend to be more impotent than it is because the freedom of choice is unnerving to the human condition. That the fear of failure is less scary than the fear of blame.

This observation is, of course, nothing new. It's a mix of the existentialist concepts of bad faith and authenticity (which you can find in Kierkegaard, Sartre and Heidigger et al) with the Allegory of the Cave. It has more nuance than I relay here but even I know this is getting long. But the second reason was that I enjoyed how the imagery came together.

I chose the minotaur because of its very specific type of captivity, as well as how Minos fed Asterion (which, fun fact, is the name of the specific Cretan minotaur) until Theseus killed him. In its little labyrinth at Knossos the minotaur was king. Or at least, so it believed.)

A Death in Tobruk

So as Im working on a summary and a bibliography update for 2025, I thought i’d share my latest piece. I was reading about Libya a lot recently - from the old Cyrenaica and Pentapolis period and all the way to the current interim government. I’ll readily admit to not being an expert but the stories I read definitely made me want to write about it.

P.S

It’s about neither Gaddafi, Idris nor the Battle of Tobruk. It’s a bit of everything and a bit unrelated. I picked Tobruk mainly because I love the way it sounds and it fit geographically. Gaddafi died in Sirte while Idris died in exile in Cairo.

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A Death in Tobruk

There's a violence to the soil here

A whispering hatred in the flying sand

There's nothing to fear here

Nothing to grasp with bleeding, ashen hands

I saw a future once

But it hid and I never saw it again

Horses and camels lay dead here

Their bones dot the endless wastes

Burnt tires and gasoline fumes

In the air, spinning twine, cruel fates

I saw a future once

But it hid and I never saw it again

The far reaches of empire

Another quietly burning fire

I lived as I died

A murderer, a hero - a liberator, a liar

I saw a future once...

Acherad, "To Fear Helios, To Be Helios" and The Perpetual Katabasis!

The funny thing about me as a writer is that, while I have a huge amount of faith in my work, I still get hit by shock whenever I see its impact or how far it travels. When Rex approached me about using some of my poetry for his new band, Acherad, I was very excited. Seeing someone bring life to and interpret my poetry was a fascinating experience. It was almost witnessing metamorphosis - I saw the most difficult winter of my life evolve.

Horrible experiences which ate at me, and still do, became stanzas and poems. Those poems and works, in the hands of Acherad, became music and song. And now, while those experiences still feel like a dagger in the gut, I feel we reached into that wound together and pulled out something profound.

It was awe inspiring for me to hear it. From there on, we  collaborated on the rest of the tracks. Our work together explored a bunch of topics from a variety of places. I am perhaps most proud of our expeditions into Hittite mythology, it was a trip and a half to delve into it and the lyrics we pulled out ( "Illuyanka" and "On Spears Engraved") are some of my favorites on the whole album.

So, to summarize, I'm extremely proud to have been (and still be!) part of The Eternal Katabasis and I hope you all enjoy.

https://youtu.be/rZQkaJ3em-I?si=KzqfaBji5j_ZubO0

The poem "To Fear Helios, To Be Helios":

To Fear Helios, To Be Helios

We float in coffins

Dead but awake

All the burdens of pseudo life

For us to shoulder and take

-----

There came a time that never left

There was a beauty shown in jest

There came killers to wrest

And Solon said it best

-------

The journey is long,

The sun burns the brittle coffin wood

Cruel cosmos draws in

Our ashes become so much refuse

--------

There came a time that never left

The few, the proud were left bereft

There's no climbing back from these depths

And Wilde said it best

--------

If time won't leave then I must

To where you, the others, couldn't

And if it were in my power to save you all

Rest assured, my fellows, I wouldn't

---------

Despair, sadness, heartbreak, lies

(Rest assured, my fellows, I wouldn't )

Pain, blood, spit, gauged eyes

(Rest assured, my fellows, I wouldn't )

Beg, plead, barter, bargain

Rest assured, I won't

A Leper to Lepers

The chains embedded in my flesh

They creak and drag upon the skin

My limbs have not been my own for so long

Mine are not the words I sing

And though I am Fenrir, you are the chain

And though I am Prometheus, I plead in vain

The gods would keep me no longer

A leper to lepers!

The world grows suddenly still

Who will be the first to draw?

Spit at my vanity

I contain more than you'll ever know

And though I am Judas, you are my field

And though I am Typhon, I'm struck by your will

The gods would keep me no longer

A leper to lepers!

I know the worth of my vanity

I know the worth of my enmity

I know you fear me

A leper to lepers!

Leper to lepers to lepers to lepers to lepers

Explanation of cover -

In ancient times, lepers were typically marked by different items beyond their distinctive appearance. One I could not convey was a type of tunic that would hide their torso and put an extra layer between them and you. But in the picture there are three others-

A rattler (left) and a bell (right) were used to inform people a leper is passing by. These were some of the earliest means of avoiding communicable disease.

a mask - many lepers chose to wear a mask to hide their disfigurement. While traditionally they wore a leather or cloth mask, the richer the leper the fancier the mask would be.

The Hebrew word is for leper. Interestingly the etymology in Hebrew for leper is “he in whom evil is found” or he who is struck by evil".”