The Ballad of Conflicted Aspects
by Ted Guhl

I see the evening sun illuminate the vaulted
Temple and invite the supplicants to exalt
The stars for an uncompromising truth
Concerning their fate. What will be the result?

Courage is required to enter this holy den,
The ancient astrologers who dwell within
Always reveal that which is already known
Be it of good future or disastrous end.

Some find here that which they would not know:
Oedipus (and Jocasta) found nothing but woe
And yet, he learned that truth is all -
And, being blinded by it, now is hallowed.

So, dear Laura, I have myself come here
Asking for knowledge both with hope and fear
Of what a future with you might bring;
If I keep my heart open and my eyes clear.

"Here is the Fate" the gazer intoned,
Of this Lion and Archer, it now is known -
Vanity" he continued, "and love betrayed"
And hearing this my soul sank down.

"An Archer's spirit in wandering is founded
While the lion's pride is easily wounded
She will, in time, without malice, stray
And you, in revenge, will make her pay."

"Moreover Lion's Sun is square Archer's Moon -
You both want the other to play perfect tunes,
And expect of each other only light, never dark,
Such fantasized love must end in its ruin."

By now my spirits were as deep as a well
And hope all but faded like an echoing bell
For in my heart the Archer's arrow stood
And I welcomed it in, for good or ill.

Then, in this cavern with no trace of sun,
I suddenly remembered who I had become
'So be it!" I roared, (as wounded Lions will do)
"If this is our fate then let it come."

"For I, like old Oedipus, to illusion am blind
I have seen truth - that whatever stars sign,
All loves ends in grief and that is its worth;
The choice to risk love is completely mine."

And she, the dear Archer, in Hades has time spent
and thus is no child, following each passing bent.
Yet should she betray me (as fate says she must)
I would not hate, my heart was long ago rent.

And so, Dark Seer, while distant stars may be moving,
Us to their end, a life is shaped by its living;
We both have learned the essence of wisdom,
To accept with compassion human frailty in loving.