Saturday, August 11, 2012

Telemachus



Telemachus

“Oh Pallas Athena—
my goddess guide!"
—Francois de Salignac
de La Mothe-Fenelon
Les Adventures de Telemaque
________________

After beating her up—
My so-called Odysseus
Distraught father didn’t
Know what to do

Back from Korea—
His wife wanting a
Divorce, his honor
Lost and his family
_____________________

So he dumped us—
All in his Corvette
And sped to his
Parents place

Young F-86 pilot—
Not knowing what to do
Except dump us three
Boys and then what?
_____________________

Adultery is nothing new—
How many Odysseus men
Have gone thru the same
Thing as war-torn husbands

Homer does his hero-trip—
Whether Iliad or Odyssey
The blind poet telling his
Classic story for whoever
________________________

I was too young to be—
Telemachus only in the
Fourth grade and there
Wasn’t any Pallas Athena

There’s nothing more—
Spectral and incredibly lonely
As an evening in the high plains
Of Kansas with no parents…
________________________

The Prairie leaned down us—
I couldn’t sleep I couldn’t think
I couldn’t do anything except
Exist in the lost RFD moment…

There was nothing to recover—
My boyhood was over and I
Didn’t exist anymore other than
Pretending night was day
________________________

I challenged myself—
In the only way I knew how and
That was my own journey into
The darkness that he went thru

The Nothingness of Exile—
From one generation to the next
Marriage after marriage failures
With or without Trojan Wars



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