In his poem ANTONIO SECCOMANDI takes inspiration from the symbolism of the Ovidian myth of Actaeon’s metamorphosis to explore the relationship between science and mankind.
A young land without iron or grain
Hosting gods in the fire and rain
Nurtured Actaeon and the hound at his chain.
All was a song and Truth its refrain.
Time ran in circles, like Techne and its master
Yet the dog grew fearless and hungrier and faster.
Led his steps up an untrodden trail
To the virgin shrouded inside Maya’s veil.
Diana took his hand and whispered in his ear:
“I will tell you who you are, and why you are here.”
He gazed in her eyes and there saw a deer.
Techne hunted him through the woods and the wild
Ridding it of chimeras and idols, forever exiled.
Actaeon came to a field of canes, bent by the rising storm
Where he found himself again, and regained his human form.
“We have unleashed Truth, and disenchanted the Universe” he talks
“And remained the only conscience left under the Sun.
The seed of the highest dignity planted into fragile stalks
Masters of Creation, or beasts on the run.”
He petted Techne and whispered:
“I am Kanon. A cane in the wind
And measure of all things.”
