I am currently reading The Complete Fiction of H.P. Lovecraft and the word stygian is used with some regularity throughout the collection of works. This caused me to think about using a selected word to inspire a creative rambling so from time to time I will be creating posts under a Word of the Day theme.

Stygian stuck out for me as a word because of an encounter with Stygian Owls back in 2017 while staying near the Lamanai Archaeological Reserve in Belize.

For those of you wondering what Stygian means, you can check out the meaning and word origins here, but in a nutshell it is ‘relating to the river Styx’ and used to mean dark or gloomy or hellish in a literary context. I suppose the owls ended up with the name due to their dark colouring and their apparent glowing red eyes that make them look devilish (their eyes are actually yellow but reflect red in light).

One Who Lives

Hidden in the furrows of bark
You cast a shadow - 
Only the tufts out of place
Amongst the pine.

What wonder at an unexpected discovery
Casting a perfect silhouette in the silence of the savanna.

I never knew you before now.
A virgin stain laid bare on the landscape of my soul 
As you call out - drawing me down into the abyss. 

I don’t stand a chance -
Hypnotized by the yellow glow of your blood thirsty gaze
I cower in the grass, hoping to escape your grasp.

In dreams I see the murky waters and dare not hope for magic
For you are already baptized in the Stygian pond and bear its power.
My vision lays bare the future as there can only be One Who Lives. 

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