Monk's Hood

ACONITE

 

He dragged me from Tartarus,

Chained in adamantine,

Clawing up the chasm of Acone,

My eyes seared by sunlight.

 

My twelve canines gleamed,

My three tongues slavered,

My triple bark splattered

Dog-spit across the green fields.

 

My sputum sprouted wolfsbane;

Witches flew by it.

Medea picked it for her poison;

Hecate made it hers.

 

I was Cereberus, the thrice

Decapitated. My three

Necks bleed. Blue flowers

Mourn my murder.

 

Source material: According to Greek Mythology, the triple-headed hound Cereberus was dragged to the cave of Acone, near Mariandyne on the Black Sea, by Heracles. The saliva of the dying dog generated the poisonous plant Aconite, also known as Wolfsbane and Monk’s Hood. Medea poisoned a cup of wine with the same plant in the hope of disposing of Theseus, but it is said that the poison was first used by Hecate, or indeed that Cereberus is himself a later version of the witch-goddess. See Robert Graves, The Greek Myths, 97 c and 134 g,h. When used in witches’ ointments, the plant caused fibrillation, which, when combined with the psychotropic properties of plants from the family Solanacae, resulted in a flying sensation. See Margaret Baker, Discovering the Folklore of Plants, p. 9. Poem by Giles Watson, 2002.

 

Done