Alright, here is the 4th poem from our VSW Summer Poetry Swap. Today it comes from our good friend Malcolm, or S.A.M for those who know him best. Thank you for your participation as always, and we hope you enjoy. "Hellenic Dogs" “Implacable Achilles! might’st thou be To all the Gods no dearer than to me! Thee, vultures wild should scatter round the shore, And bloody dogs grow fiercer from thy gore!” —Homer’s Iliad, Book XXII Upon my arrival in Ancient Corinth The first thing I saw were stray dogs. Big dog, small dog, Black dog, white dog. They bay at the moon, They bathe in the sun, They chase stray cats down the street. At dinner one strolled to my seat And fixed itself at my feet. It was a decrepit dog, Battle-tested, its bark sounded beaten, aged— You could see the years weighing it down In its sullen sulk to the ground. As it waited by me, No doubt hoping for the pork chop on my plate, I imagined these were the dogs Homer knew of. Not the savage, genital-ripping canines He recounts in his poems But these dogs. Old dogs. Worn by war, Beaten by battle, Patiently standing by, Waiting for bodies to fall and become food.
Posted on: Fri, 07 Jun 2013 20:53:39 +0000
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