Nota Bene: Happy New Year’s! I have never published a poem on this site before, but since it’s my Substack, I figure, why not? Though I’ve never taken a stab at being a full-fledged poet, I do occasionally find the mood strikes me to give a poem a go. This was the product of one of those moments, and it remains a poem I quite enjoy. My strengths lie elsewhere. But every now and then, I’m reminded that my prose heroes, writers like Milton, Hemingway, and Bradbury, wrote poetry as well. So sometimes, the Muse must be obliged.
The old story is often told, of Achilles and his mother,
That in their pride spiteful of Zeus’ design,
Wrought destruction upon sacred Ilion and others.
These two wept for a Life short-lived despite the choice,
Presented Peleus’ son: to a life of obscurity resign,
Or earn honor from cultures unborn, named in their voice.
How else is a godhood, once denied, to be laid claim?
To choose a life existent in the field and home and bed,
Risking to be forgotten as one extinguishes the flame?
Ebbing with Time, sins remain the same across the chasm
While new expressions let air the past identical Dread:
The quiet forgettable life, or embracing the light of Stardom.
At the feet of the chained Prometheus we still beg,
Yearning for the name that will release us from Anxiety,
Ignorant that our name is already pronounced, a dreg.
We believe the roles to be exchanged, that it is the Fear,
First exposed to the high Olympian, making our eyes bleary.
Shrouded memory bears down heavier than revolution near.
If one shouts amongst the blue birds and squared frames,
Does Despair change places, submitting to the eagle’s talon?
It is still Uncertainty who attacks the Ego, leaving it maimed.
Millions wait on the shore of the data sea, the outcome already decided,
And end which no mortal, powerful or otherwise, can unburden,
Except to learn how to live in the world and be thus blessed.
The Promise of Prometheus remains chained to the rock, and worry
will not subside.
I like it. Poor Prometheus still waiting for Hercules to rescue him.