I could tell you
things but I don't have
to anymore it's too
late or something,
i don't imagine you're
far away,
endlessly knitting and
unknitting a shawl to
keep away the suitors until I
return for you,
no,
it's too late now,
too long at sea,
to think of
rain like grey-yellow sound
on a bedroom window
blue-golden mornings of
coffee and toast and things
we had thought of during
the night to talk about
it was too
much for either of us so
i don't think of these
things anymore
i cleaned all the rooms
every square inch
the day after you left and it was
almost
like you'd never
been there,
no eyes like
a child's crayon drawing,
no sparrow's voice,
no soft shoulders or
dangerous curves--
i'm at sea now,
i'm tied to the mast
as I'd requested,
your siren's song is
lost on me
or it may drive me
mad
for a minute or two
but there's no
choice except to
keep sailing and you
can stop knitting your shawl
(if you'd ever started)
because I'm not coming back.
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11 comments:
p.s.
from Wikipedia:
In Greek mythology the Sirens (Greek singular: Σειρήν Seirḗn; Greek plural: Σειρῆνες Seirênes) were two or three deadly-dangerous bird-women, portrayed as seductresses, who lived on an island called Sirenum scopuli. Seamen who sailed near were decoyed with the Sirens' enchanting music to shipwreck on the rocky coast.
They are often depicted as having bird's faces or heads, particularly sparrows
Odysseus was curious as to what the Sirens sounded like, so, on Circe's advice, he had all his sailors plug their ears with beeswax and tie him to the mast. He ordered his men to leave him tied to the mast, no matter how much he would beg. When he heard their beautiful song, he ordered the sailors to untie him but they stuck to their orders (or they couldn't hear him). When they had passed out of earshot, Odysseus demonstrated with his frowns to be released (Odyssey XII, 39).
p.s. 2-- also from Wiki--
(after 20 years journey) Odysseus returned home, and learned that Penelope had remained faithful to him. She pretended to weave a burial shroud for Odysseus' father, Laërtes, and claimed she would choose one suitor when she finished. Every day she wove a length of shroud, and every night she unwove the same length of shroud.
I like the combonimation of myth and real, wicked cool. Magically real in fact.
But...maybe this is a work in progress(aren't they all), is there a need for you to be tied to something, or is it enough that you are tied to the memories, maybe mention this. I dunno, I really liked the visuals this gave me.
Some frick'in good writing on the blog right now. uh-huh.
ah... tied to the memories instead of the mast. nice.
Great poem Roberts. What are they putting in tthe water over there?
masterpiece!
i think he does need to be tied to the mast, it fits the reference better.
the image and meaning for me are that he is liberated by being bound to the mast, which is different than the memories, this is a third element introduced...the mast(his attachment to something else) sets him free from the memories, so I like this contrast/contradiction.
just my opinion though, anyone else want to weigh in?
.
i'll weigh in.
i think you're right in this case, though i like knack's idea.
there's already two seperate myths of odysseus included, which clouds the metaphor-- the "progtagonist" of this poem is both the Sirens and Penelope.
is this an accident? is it too much?
i'm not sure.
blogLit 101.
Naw, not too much. It's okay to reference more than one theme from within the Odyssey in your poem. You are tying those two separate elements together rather nicely. Like a movie scene where you cut away from the heroes actions back to Ithaca for an instant.
Great piece by the way, I love the classics.
Montreal is grey, always grey. I can't handle winter anymore. I need color. Help, mayday. what to do?
I found that a pair of sunglasses with red/blue/yellow tint really helps.
I'll try that, along with the recommended 1000 units of good old mr vitamin D every day. you should all try this too.
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