Dionysus did not want this.

Yes, he is the god of pleasure,

And yes, he is the god of drink,

And today there are more and more of both,

But he did not want this.

 

The world is burning.

Pan, long since dead, lets his mountains crumble to man’s machines

Artemis’s children have turned against her, hunting animals until death

And Apollo’s sun hurts the Earth more and more each day.

 

How did it come to this?

How did the world change so quickly?

Dionysus remembers the days where he would walk on the Earth

And rejoice with the mortals

Singing and dancing and living.

 

Now, when he walks the Earth

There is no singing.

There is no dancing.

And the people there are barely living.

 

They drink more and more

Snatch little morsels of pleasure wherever they can

For now the humans in power hoard it like a dragon hoards gold

Pretending to be generous when they let some slip through their tight grasps.

 

Dionysus is rabid as a dog

For while he may be the god of pleasure

He is also the god of madness

And this will not stand.

 

He walks down to Earth

Touches the ground

And looks around at the people there

Too melancholy to notice his arrival

At such a late time of night.

 

He travels until he finds a home

Where a baby’s cry splits the air.

 

He slips inside

And comforts the child before the parents wake.

Holding the babe with gentle hands,

He kisses the forehead with soft lips

And whispers these words.

 

“Little one, 

You shall be named for the son of Aphrodite

A reincarnation of one who brings love

And you shall do the same for your human brethren

Giving them love where is none

Giving them hope when they are lost

Giving them light when they are in the dark

Giving them courage in the face of cowardice.”

 

Then he laid the child down,

Brushed the hair from their forehead,

And let the new reincarnation of Eros

Fall into a gentle slumber.