Metaphors, particularly those suffused with the heft of violence, surround our attempts to describe our ways of loving; the idioms abound: all’s fair in love and war, love to death, broken hearted, shoot your shot, drop dead gorgeous, hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, man-eater. However, our integrity within the vehemence of these feelings depends on our ability to separate word and act. 

This week’s episode asks what happens when this duality is devoured, turning to the mythic tale of Penthesilea, especially as dramatized by Heinrich von Kleist. In Kleist’s play, the titular Amazon queen falls in love with the Greek hero, Achilles, on the battlefields of Troy. After much frenzy of battle and romance, Penthesilea tears apart the body of her beloved, the fidelity of her love literalized between her teeth. She asks, defending herself from madness: what is the difference between a kiss (kuss) and a bite (biss)? They rhyme. Gorging our hearts out with music from Jlin, Bookworms, and the concept horse.

CLOACA is Vashon-based DJ / artist, Delphine Tress Morrow. She keeps the faith that music shared is a public service, a liturgy.