Survivors

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Tuesday, March 20, 2012

The Ruins of Troy


by Steve King
© 2010
All rights reserved


What matter'd it now?  She who made the sea move,
made it crawl with their ships; now she might well have been
just a fine polished marble, cold as that stone,
lugged off for booty, and stowed in the hold
of the man's mad desire.

Behind, the smoke rose so high o’er the plain;
and the cries of the dead rose too in the plumes,
and echoed the halls of the indifferent gods,
who heard all the groans as the gods always did:
so sated with god-love and smoke from their altars,
now giddy with griefs, and conjuring scores
to settle anon.

And the smoke and cries rose through the dark-browed clouds
long after the sails had dipped out of sight,
slipped over the edge of the smooth-seeming sea,
away from the cries and away from the smoke,
so heavy with swag, their blood-stained treasure;
and women they took, now sea-staring, weeping,
all huddled astern in the hard rocking ships.


It was all too quiet after the war years,
the blood men a-pace on the confining decks. 
They were near out of heroes, near out of their time,
out of sight of the smoke, out of sight of the land
and the army of graves laying siege to charred walls.

Away from the dark-browed clouds did they sail,
clouds carrying smoke and the cries of the dead;
beetles leaving the plague, scuttling back to their earth,
back to where it  began:  the azure-lapped land,
a twitch in the loin of the rugged spear-man.

9 comments:

  1. Like the lore weaved in
    And the kick back to our current worldy bin
    Very nicely done
    Another great run.

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  2. So the cycle continues, this was simply incandescent:

    so sated with god-love and smoke from their altars,
    now giddy with griefs, and conjuring scores
    to settle anon.

    Great work.

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  3. Man, this is so real it's like being there--I've read a lot of descriptions of the Trojan War,alternate history sci-fi, retellings of myth, poetry, you name it, but this had an incredible immediacy--almost as if you could lift it up and superimpose it over a modern life, a current clash of armies, despite the period details(love that sardonic last line.) The passage about the sea-staring women really felt personal, and the first stanza cynically/tragically equating the famous ship launching face with just another piece of precious stone to haul off also resonated. Fine poem, in every way.

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  4. "Behind, the smoke rose so high o’er the plain;
    and the cries of the dead rose too in the plumes,
    and echoed the halls of the indifferent gods,
    who heard all the groans as the gods always did:"

    I can so envision this ancient tale that you have retold, the "gods" hearing all, playing their games with mortals as they did. You have a magical way of re-spinning a classical story and drawing me in again. Beautifully written, Steve.

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  5. incredible imagery sir...and while the battle is all too real the last 2 stanzas where you address life after the war that is what really grabbed me as i thought of our own soldiers after they come home....

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  6. Great write, love the last two stanzas.

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  7. Love this Steve! But the last stanza is a killer!"beetles scurrying back to their earth where it began" and "a twitch in the loin of the rugged spear-man. The modern Homer of dVersePoets, you are.. :))

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  8. wow...i feel just like i watched a movie...beautiful imagery steve..smiling at jackie's comment with the modern homer...ha...she could be right..smiles

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    Replies
    1. Homer...ha!

      You have a line there now about being "blind and seeing all at once," Does that make you the dVerse Tiresias? Very classic indeed.

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