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Unpublished}