This is a wine fit for philosophers — and you, sweet prince. What did you ever give me besides talk, talk, talk? Drink, and when you drain your cup, pray talk some more — say, can you taste me on your tongue? Wild hemlock and nightshade: such are the flowers of my heart. No roses left — they withered you know when. Or perhaps you don’t, busy as you are crying over the dead. Drink, my love. Your self-indulgent aches, your oh-so-profound thoughts this wine will ease. Drink, sweet prince, and leave me in peace.
For you, no more Ophelia,
father,
king,
lover.
I am my own Ophelia.
Basiliké Pappa, Excerpt from ‘Songs of Ophelia,’ Darker Objects
“In Darker Objects I found myself again. It’s that simple, and at the same time so hard to express what the joining of our voices over the years, over lands and seas, means to me. So let me just say I am grateful to be in this circle of light – of darker objects burning bright.
This book is spellwork. Read it and you’ll see.”
–Basiliké Pappa
Basiliké Pappa lives in Greece. She is a translator and copy editor, and writes poetry and prose in both Greek and English. Her work can be found in Dark Passions Magazine, Heron Tree, Carmina Magazine, Ubu., Sledgehammer Lit, Glitchwords, and other journals, as well as in the anthologies Hidden in Childhood (Literary Revelations, 2023), Wounds I Healed: The Poetry of Strong Women (Experiments in Fiction, 2022) and Shaping Water: Erotic Haiku and Tanka (Moth Orchid Press, 2022).
Indie Blu(e) Publishing 