The Writing Wolf

Way back in a part of the sixties that wasn’t the Beatles or Flower Power, I fell in love with the Lilacs. At the time I was living and working in a large country house in the South East of England. Everything was new and fresh for me – the girl from the West Midlands who was just beginning to explore what might be out there! Of yes we had Lilacs in Walsall. But nothing like these great luxuriant trees. I can remember standing by an open window in the early evening with a glass of wine in my hand. There had been a shower of rain. The deep scent of the earth and the smell of Lilacs filled the air. Somewhere in the back ground someone was playing an Ivor Novello song on a piano. I've loved Ivor Novello ever since and I’ve always loved Lilacs. And here is a rather lovely version of that famous song from Alexander Duliba, a classically trained baritone trying to make his mark in the world of Opera. [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAtP2dgUaeE]

According to Ovid, the Roman poet, Scylla was a beautiful nymph! The sea-god, Glaucus , fell in love with her. But he had fins instead of arms and a fish's tail instead of legs. Scylla was appalled! So she fled from him onto the land and he despaired. He went to the sorceress Circe to ask for a love potion. As he spoke he wove a spell over the mighty Circe and, in her turn, she fell in love with him. But Glaucus would have none of her. Circe was angry. She decided to take her revenge and prepared a very powerful poison. The jealous sorceress poured the vial into the pool where Scylla bathed. As soon as the nymph entered the water, she was transformed into a frightful monster with twelve feet and six heads. Each head had three jagged rows of teeth and angry, growling wolf heads grew from her waist. Scylla’s pain was so great she was rooted to the spot. In her distress she started to strike out destroying everything that came near her. Whenever a ship passed by, each of her heads wou