teach me of Odysseus
in poetic words bled
ten years
churned in the waking wake
of departing the nightmare
what did Odysseus see in the rear-view mirror?
the sacking of Troy was no small thing
was Helen worth it?
how would Hector respond?
Achilles?
perhaps Patroclus or Paris might weigh in?
any insight?
I sigh
The Iliad has been repeated over and over and over again
Men, Nature’s most destructive force,
the innards of the Trojan Horse,
spill out and spoil every pristine thing they touch

but teach me of Odysseus
how does man leave the fatal shore?
what demons must he destroy?
what storms, prevail?
how red the wake?
before the safe harbors of home
he makes

~

Words and Photography ©2019 Tanya Cliff ~ to contact me

Posted in poetry & free verse.