A magic charm to ward you from a serpent’s sting, merciless enemies, and all scabbed wounds

( - )

JENNY MASTORAKI
A magic charm to ward you from a serpent’s sting,
merciless enemies, and all scabbed wounds

Five for the black vespers, three to call the priest,
ten is for a thread of bronze and the scarlet mare,
watch the way a wayward wind makes the waters roil,
six for scolds flung down a well and a crippled ferryman,
back and forth in dungeon deep go eleven palid maids,
thirteen’s for the shipmaster and the holy master builder,
one is for the dragon-born who’ll sink their ship beneath the waves.

 

Τζένη Μαστοράκη, «Μαγικό ξόρκι να σε φυλάει...», Ιστορίες για τα βαθιά, 1983
Unpublished


Author 
John Stathatos (translator)
Original Author 
Jenny Mastoraki
Published 
April 2018