Open To Interpretation
Eleos
There's no
Apology in mythology
No
Forgive me
No
I forgive you
No
We'll put aside
What made us quarrel
No
As recompense
We'll bring flowers together everyday
To the altar of Eleos
There's
No mercy
No forgiveness
No end to myths.
DolphinWords
Notes: there's this notion that Christianity swept away mythology, and introduced forgiveness and mercy as something new in the world...I was going through the radio stations, and happened on an evangelist going on about things like that, that the concept of original sin, and being forgiven, was an invention of Jesus...I don't know how things like this can be 'invented', or people can be ignorant of them...people are people all over the world, and all back through time...just on the facebook scroll today was the congress lady with an odd sense of history...Columbus discovered America with help from God and the continent was empty, waiting for Christians to colonize it...of course, everyone reacts to this like a misspelled word in the lead story of their morning newspaper...'of course there were Indians'...and, of course the congresswoman is criticized for religious myopia...and so the comments go!...anyway, I took it hard that 'forgiveness' wasn't a notable feature of classical mythology, and, and to the evangelist's credit, I had to look a bit!...but it was a good hunt...poem up is a souvenir of the study!...the absence of mention of forgiveness in the myths is due, I think, to the myths that have come down to us being about the pantheon of gods and goddesses dear to the aristocracies...household gods and goddesses, and likely tales and such to go with them, weren't likely recorded...I'm not sure what I mean by 'household'!...I'm certain there was forgiveness and mercy in people's hearts before the arrival of Jesus...but the evangelist is right, in that no prominent figure like Jesus was in the heavens, not even in the Old Testament...but there is a singular Greek goddess of note, Eleos, Clementina to the Romans...
quote
Pausanias, Description of Greece 1. 17. 1 (trans. Jones) (Greek travelogue C2nd A.D.) :
"In the Athenian market-place among the objects not generally known is an altar to Eleos (Mercy), of all divinities the most useful in the life of mortals and in the vicissitudes of fortune, but honoured by the Athenians alone among the Greeks."
http://www.theoi.com/Daimon/Eleos.html
and
quote
Statius, Thebaid 12. 481 ff (trans. Mozley) (Roman epic C1st A.D.) :
"There was in the midst of the city [of Athens] an altar belonging to no god of power; gentle Clementia (Clemency) [Eleos] had there her seat, and the wretched made it sacred; never lacked she a new suppliant, none did she condemn or refuse their prayers. All that ask are heard, night and day may one approach and win the heart of the goddess by complaints alone. No costly rites are hers; she accepts no incense flame, no blood deep-welling; tears flow upon her altar, sad offering of severed tresses hang above it, and raiment left when fortune changed. Around is a grove of gentle trees, marked by the cult of the venerable, wool-entwined laurel and the suppliant olive. No image is there, to no metal is the divine form entrusted, in hearts and minds does the goddess delight to dwell. The distressed are ever nigh her, her precinct ever swarms with needy folk, only to the prosperous her shrine is unknown.
same site
unquote
a quibble might be that there was Kannon, the Goddess of Mercy in Asian religions, like from India eastward to Japan...early Christians in Japan, who were nearly persecuted out of existence, morphed Mary mother of Jesus into Kannon...and there's the notion that the ancient Egyptian iconography of Isis with child Horus on her lap, morphed into Mary with Jesus on her lap...mythological heavenly quibbles are endless too!...brb...oh, did search: 'eleos jesus'...eleos is the Greek word for mercy, and shows up much in conversation of Jesus' mercy...maybe that evangelist's talkabouts too!
:)
DavidDavid
Wednesday, October 12, 2016
Sunday, October 9, 2016
OTI:three poems and notes:10/9/16
Open To Interpretation
One Hundred And Eight
At the loom you weave their fate.
With the loan of Aphrodite's make-up
The one hundred and eight
Have been enticed
To fill the dark hall with revelry.
They are lonely suitors
Easily played.
And you wait for Odysseus
Who with Circe plays
Three hundred and sixty five days
Delayed
Among other time consuming adventures.
The one hundred and eight bring treasures
To fetch your attention
That offset the expenses
And any vulgar offenses
The household servants endure.
Happy and all smiling
They laugh at one another's efforts
To win your dream.
Maybe it will be me
Maybe it will be me
Repeated one hundred and eight times,
Desires' prayers in your rigged competition
Truly to be concluded with
One hundred and eight dooms.
After Odysseus confirms
You have been Artemis' supplicant,
He'll stand his arrows
In one hundred and eight
Unrequited chests.
Circe's pigmen fared better.
Theme Report
The story usually has it
That the suitors
We're a vulgar inferior lot,
Weaklings beside Odysseus
And a dishonor to noble Penelope.
The tragedians knew better.
Odysseus is slain by Telegonus,
His son by his girl, Circe.
Brought back from Hades
Odysseus sees Telemachus,
His son by Penelope, slain too.
And then again Odysseus is
Hades sent by Cassiphone,
Twice deadened before Agamemnon's laughing,
Such the fate of Greeks
That beset Artemis' Trojans,
Insult Penelope at her loom.
Time Was
Time was
A soldier's cache
Was his shoulders
His arms
His butt
His shins
His calves
The set of his jaw
How he rode
Astride a horse.
Now it's medals
Over a sunken chest
Over a plump belly
Riding poked through the sun roof
Of a black limousine
Before the ordered marching rows
Of girls in boots and short skirts
With lovely knees
That sing cadence and salute.
DolphinWords
Notes: it's all 'x' rated, the old Greek myths...x for sex, x for violence, x for mystery, x for 'x marks the spot on the map'...over the centuries the translations clothed it all, made it juvenile reading...adventure books for young boys...not being able to read ancient Greek, I imagine I haven't ever really read the tales as they were intended...maybe just as well!...as one explores them more and more, one realizes how coherent and interrelated they all are...and they have theological underpinnings to match any of the exegesis of the Bible...Artemis being chaste, and Aphrodite being sexy, is a refrain...all the characters have these distinctive natures that the authors work with...what an audience they must have had!...anyway, poems up, three ornamentals...embellishments...I should give Odysseus a Black Ship, but I don't like him...he's a butt!...maybe the debate is live streaming on youtube....
:)
DavidDavid
One Hundred And Eight
At the loom you weave their fate.
With the loan of Aphrodite's make-up
The one hundred and eight
Have been enticed
To fill the dark hall with revelry.
They are lonely suitors
Easily played.
And you wait for Odysseus
Who with Circe plays
Three hundred and sixty five days
Delayed
Among other time consuming adventures.
The one hundred and eight bring treasures
To fetch your attention
That offset the expenses
And any vulgar offenses
The household servants endure.
Happy and all smiling
They laugh at one another's efforts
To win your dream.
Maybe it will be me
Maybe it will be me
Repeated one hundred and eight times,
Desires' prayers in your rigged competition
Truly to be concluded with
One hundred and eight dooms.
After Odysseus confirms
You have been Artemis' supplicant,
He'll stand his arrows
In one hundred and eight
Unrequited chests.
Circe's pigmen fared better.
Theme Report
The story usually has it
That the suitors
We're a vulgar inferior lot,
Weaklings beside Odysseus
And a dishonor to noble Penelope.
The tragedians knew better.
Odysseus is slain by Telegonus,
His son by his girl, Circe.
Brought back from Hades
Odysseus sees Telemachus,
His son by Penelope, slain too.
And then again Odysseus is
Hades sent by Cassiphone,
Twice deadened before Agamemnon's laughing,
Such the fate of Greeks
That beset Artemis' Trojans,
Insult Penelope at her loom.
Time Was
Time was
A soldier's cache
Was his shoulders
His arms
His butt
His shins
His calves
The set of his jaw
How he rode
Astride a horse.
Now it's medals
Over a sunken chest
Over a plump belly
Riding poked through the sun roof
Of a black limousine
Before the ordered marching rows
Of girls in boots and short skirts
With lovely knees
That sing cadence and salute.
DolphinWords
Notes: it's all 'x' rated, the old Greek myths...x for sex, x for violence, x for mystery, x for 'x marks the spot on the map'...over the centuries the translations clothed it all, made it juvenile reading...adventure books for young boys...not being able to read ancient Greek, I imagine I haven't ever really read the tales as they were intended...maybe just as well!...as one explores them more and more, one realizes how coherent and interrelated they all are...and they have theological underpinnings to match any of the exegesis of the Bible...Artemis being chaste, and Aphrodite being sexy, is a refrain...all the characters have these distinctive natures that the authors work with...what an audience they must have had!...anyway, poems up, three ornamentals...embellishments...I should give Odysseus a Black Ship, but I don't like him...he's a butt!...maybe the debate is live streaming on youtube....
:)
DavidDavid
Saturday, October 8, 2016
OTI:four poems and notes:10/8/16
Open To Interpretation
Dragons Awake
The snows were melting,
The streams at the base
Of Volcano Never
Choked with frazzle ice.
All across Nevermore
The meadows were flooding,
The birds arriving
Filling the canopy
Of the Conifer Forest.
And the Black Dragons
Of the Southern Flight
Were sleeping in,
So sweetly dreaming,
The long Winter hibernation
Seeming never ending.
Pet flew about
The steep slopes of Volcano Never
To every niche,
To every tall driftwood nest,
To every drowsy Dragon.
It was time to wake up
And quickly.
Saddled on Pet's neck, Petra sang,
Pet roared,
Bringing awake each Dragon
One by one to launch from their nests.
Around and around
Volcano Never
Pet flew
Until the Southern Flight rose up,
Together flocked,
Crowned the head of Volcano Never
Like a black cloud.
Dragons aren't dumb,
What one of a Flight knows,
All know,
Such is their inner hearing.
Like to an owl,
A mouse stirring under the snow,
They listened to Pet and Petra
Sing their tale in song,
And prepared to meet
Head on the Black Dragons of the Northern Reach
Approaching from sea the shores of Nevermore.
Never Fall
Dragons one
Dragons all
Fly alone
But never fall.
A Bobbing Toy
The Nautilus was battered and dented,
For Kannon's Black Whales,
A bobbing toy.
The Nautilus could continue submerged
But the slamming about was making Nemo dizzy.
His crew from the concussions
Were bleeding from their noses.
"Surface!" he commanded.
And no sooner the Nautilus breached
Than the Cephalopods grabbed her with their tentacle arms.
Beside the Black Ship Liz,
Nemo and the Nautilus now captured.
Nemo looked up, skyward,
And saw the
Black Dragons of the Southern Flight
Hovering.
"Hmmmph, a bit much." said Nemo.
"Look Captain. Another Black Ship!" a crewman said.
Nemo looked through his binocs,
And laughed.
"It has the Northern Black Dragon Flight behind it,
"Like so many ducklings."
We're to be the entertainment
At a Black Dragon barbecue!
Give the Pods something to remember." he told his crew.
"On the surface we can outpace the Black Whales."
Stung and stunned by the Nautilus,
The Cephalopods released their grip.
The Nautilus bolted,
"Go to the other Black Ship.
Ram it." Nemo ordered.
An Old Story
Petra leaned over, looking down
Trying to discern what was unfolding below.
"Petra!" Pet said.
"I hear a tune from that distant Black Ship."
"I haven't Dragon ears." Petra said.
"It pulls us! All us Dragons!" Pet said.
"How so?" Petra asked.
Petra hung on tight as Pet dove towards Black Ship Argo,
The entire Southern Flight in tow.
"Everywhere Dragons!" Orpheus said.
"You know, it's kind of warm and peaceful inside one...
"But I prefer this cold outdoors." said Jason.
"Keep playing Orpheus!
A melody is all we have
For a wall between here and there!"
And the Nautilus rammed into the Argo.
And the shock made Orpheus drop his lyre.
And the tune's spell dropped away from Onyx,
Who flew up to the Argo's Red Wheel,
Grabbed the Golden Fleece in one claw,
And Glauce in the other claw,
Wheeled,
And fled North,
The Northern Flight in tow.
Orpheus could see the expression
In Jason's eyes watching the
Northern Flight fly away,
Tiny at last to see.
Gone beyond the horizon.
Gone with the Golden Fleece,
Gone with Glauce.
Orpheus lowered his eyes,
Apologized to Jason,
"Sorry."
Jason looked at Orpheus,
An old story made new sense,
And held him in his arms.
"Come Orpheus," he said,
"Let's go see what mashed into the Argo's bow."
"It looks like something Hephaestus would make."
Orpheus said on seeing the Nautilus.
Nemo met Jason's and Orpheus' gaze
From where he stood on the Nautilus' deck.
"I made this." Nemo said.
"And I need a Black Ship."
"And we need a Captain." Jason said.
The Black Ship was healing,
And had nearly completely extruded the Nautilus.
"Will my daughter do?" Nemo said,
His daughter emerged from below decks
And stood beside Nemo.
"Calypso!" Orpheus said.
"Quickly!" Jason said, tossing a rope ladder down,
"Come aboard, Calypso! We set sail North!"
DolphinWords
Notes: reference 'old story' Orpheus and Eurydice, reference Calypso, Oceanus and Tethys...that was just luck!...casting about when I named Nemo's daughter I called her Calypso...I don't think I studied it out...Cousteau had come to mind, and his research vessel called Calypso...but I studied it out this time, and find one old Greek tale has it that Calypso was the daughter of Oceanus and Tethys...Oceanus was a Titan, with the Oceans for a realm similar to Poseidon...in fact, Oceanus was given the Atlantic, and Poseidon the Mediterranean...I wonder if Verne new of this...brb...oh, here's link...facebook provides pages one can do up like a blog...Village of the Mermaids...brb...well, no, Verne doesn't seem to have been smitten by Greek mythology, though likely he was familiar with it...and I find, re-reading wiki's take, he wrote a lot of plays...a study for sometime!...and the translation problem is at the fore for Verne's works...I'd think French would be easy to transcribe into English...need to go find some of the new translations!...I'm finding that writing narrative may be simpler than I thought...it's play by play, with the suspense building here and there when a batter will come up and maybe sock a home run, and win the day, or some such...Baez advances the Cubs, now one up on the Giants...again, I find myself rooting for San Francisco (as in the NBA playoffs) with sympathy for a city that hasn't won a championship in a very long time!...go Cubs!
:)
DavidDavid
Dragons Awake
The snows were melting,
The streams at the base
Of Volcano Never
Choked with frazzle ice.
All across Nevermore
The meadows were flooding,
The birds arriving
Filling the canopy
Of the Conifer Forest.
And the Black Dragons
Of the Southern Flight
Were sleeping in,
So sweetly dreaming,
The long Winter hibernation
Seeming never ending.
Pet flew about
The steep slopes of Volcano Never
To every niche,
To every tall driftwood nest,
To every drowsy Dragon.
It was time to wake up
And quickly.
Saddled on Pet's neck, Petra sang,
Pet roared,
Bringing awake each Dragon
One by one to launch from their nests.
Around and around
Volcano Never
Pet flew
Until the Southern Flight rose up,
Together flocked,
Crowned the head of Volcano Never
Like a black cloud.
Dragons aren't dumb,
What one of a Flight knows,
All know,
Such is their inner hearing.
Like to an owl,
A mouse stirring under the snow,
They listened to Pet and Petra
Sing their tale in song,
And prepared to meet
Head on the Black Dragons of the Northern Reach
Approaching from sea the shores of Nevermore.
Never Fall
Dragons one
Dragons all
Fly alone
But never fall.
A Bobbing Toy
The Nautilus was battered and dented,
For Kannon's Black Whales,
A bobbing toy.
The Nautilus could continue submerged
But the slamming about was making Nemo dizzy.
His crew from the concussions
Were bleeding from their noses.
"Surface!" he commanded.
And no sooner the Nautilus breached
Than the Cephalopods grabbed her with their tentacle arms.
Beside the Black Ship Liz,
Nemo and the Nautilus now captured.
Nemo looked up, skyward,
And saw the
Black Dragons of the Southern Flight
Hovering.
"Hmmmph, a bit much." said Nemo.
"Look Captain. Another Black Ship!" a crewman said.
Nemo looked through his binocs,
And laughed.
"It has the Northern Black Dragon Flight behind it,
"Like so many ducklings."
We're to be the entertainment
At a Black Dragon barbecue!
Give the Pods something to remember." he told his crew.
"On the surface we can outpace the Black Whales."
Stung and stunned by the Nautilus,
The Cephalopods released their grip.
The Nautilus bolted,
"Go to the other Black Ship.
Ram it." Nemo ordered.
An Old Story
Petra leaned over, looking down
Trying to discern what was unfolding below.
"Petra!" Pet said.
"I hear a tune from that distant Black Ship."
"I haven't Dragon ears." Petra said.
"It pulls us! All us Dragons!" Pet said.
"How so?" Petra asked.
Petra hung on tight as Pet dove towards Black Ship Argo,
The entire Southern Flight in tow.
"Everywhere Dragons!" Orpheus said.
"You know, it's kind of warm and peaceful inside one...
"But I prefer this cold outdoors." said Jason.
"Keep playing Orpheus!
A melody is all we have
For a wall between here and there!"
And the Nautilus rammed into the Argo.
And the shock made Orpheus drop his lyre.
And the tune's spell dropped away from Onyx,
Who flew up to the Argo's Red Wheel,
Grabbed the Golden Fleece in one claw,
And Glauce in the other claw,
Wheeled,
And fled North,
The Northern Flight in tow.
Orpheus could see the expression
In Jason's eyes watching the
Northern Flight fly away,
Tiny at last to see.
Gone beyond the horizon.
Gone with the Golden Fleece,
Gone with Glauce.
Orpheus lowered his eyes,
Apologized to Jason,
"Sorry."
Jason looked at Orpheus,
An old story made new sense,
And held him in his arms.
"Come Orpheus," he said,
"Let's go see what mashed into the Argo's bow."
"It looks like something Hephaestus would make."
Orpheus said on seeing the Nautilus.
Nemo met Jason's and Orpheus' gaze
From where he stood on the Nautilus' deck.
"I made this." Nemo said.
"And I need a Black Ship."
"And we need a Captain." Jason said.
The Black Ship was healing,
And had nearly completely extruded the Nautilus.
"Will my daughter do?" Nemo said,
His daughter emerged from below decks
And stood beside Nemo.
"Calypso!" Orpheus said.
"Quickly!" Jason said, tossing a rope ladder down,
"Come aboard, Calypso! We set sail North!"
DolphinWords
Notes: reference 'old story' Orpheus and Eurydice, reference Calypso, Oceanus and Tethys...that was just luck!...casting about when I named Nemo's daughter I called her Calypso...I don't think I studied it out...Cousteau had come to mind, and his research vessel called Calypso...but I studied it out this time, and find one old Greek tale has it that Calypso was the daughter of Oceanus and Tethys...Oceanus was a Titan, with the Oceans for a realm similar to Poseidon...in fact, Oceanus was given the Atlantic, and Poseidon the Mediterranean...I wonder if Verne new of this...brb...oh, here's link...facebook provides pages one can do up like a blog...Village of the Mermaids...brb...well, no, Verne doesn't seem to have been smitten by Greek mythology, though likely he was familiar with it...and I find, re-reading wiki's take, he wrote a lot of plays...a study for sometime!...and the translation problem is at the fore for Verne's works...I'd think French would be easy to transcribe into English...need to go find some of the new translations!...I'm finding that writing narrative may be simpler than I thought...it's play by play, with the suspense building here and there when a batter will come up and maybe sock a home run, and win the day, or some such...Baez advances the Cubs, now one up on the Giants...again, I find myself rooting for San Francisco (as in the NBA playoffs) with sympathy for a city that hasn't won a championship in a very long time!...go Cubs!
:)
DavidDavid
Thursday, October 6, 2016
OTI:three poems and notes:10/6/16
Open To Interpretation
Mendicants
Aegeus
I may as well have been an ascetic
A mendicant with his cup
With thistles in his
Unshorn hair
From sleeping in fields
Alone under the stars.
Medea
You would have an heir.
Aegeus
I would, and take my place,
A king among kings,
Rather than a pauper alone
With a grandiose dream.
Medea
I will have your son
As you now have me for wife.
Aegeus
Just so, things have transpired,
I gladly admit,
Having this night been with you.
Medea
The morning birds
Greet the sun,
We too
Should say ours prayers of thanks.
Take my hand,
Together we'll join the melodies
In your courtyard's garden.
Aegeus
Oh, your Dragons run to you in greeting,
Medea,
Like Artemis' hounds happy to see her.
Medea
Yes, unshackled, unchained,
How?
Aegeus
On the courtyard's flagstones,
Some manner of sea wrack.
It stinks, and sticks to our bare feet.
Medea
Dragon vomit.
The Chariot of Helios is empty...
Palace Attendant
Aegeus!
The Golden Fleece is gone!
Aegeus
How?
Attendants
We know not...
Some spell came over us and knocked us all out!
Aegeus' Warrior
Aegeus!
Theseus and his bunch have broken down our wall!
They come for Medea, vengeance wild in their eyes.
Medea
Come with me, Aegeus!
Aegeus
I cannot.
Medea
I bear your son!
Aegeus
I bear my Town,
As a King I am.
Stay I will
And defend,
Least our son be barren.
Medea
As I have always been
Here or there,
Not one place of peace have I ever known.
Aegeus
I am bound to you Medea,
Some far future awaits,
But this one,
Immediate slaughter,
Mustn't be.
Go.
Medea
What can be, can be.
The Dragons fly off with Medea and the Chariot of Helios
Medea's Sorrow
Medea knelt in the soft fine sand
By the graves of her sons
And wept.
Eye blurring fog surrounded
And the bays lapping waves
The only sound.
"Go." she told the dragons
"Return Helios' chariot.
I know not where you brought me
Nor care.
I'll wander these shores now,
Alone,
With sorrow my only garment."
Automatons Can Sing
From the bow of the Black Ship,
Hephaestus sighted a solitary figure
Walk past along the shore below.
He hurried down the gangplank,
"Medea," he said
"Normally a woman nude
Along the shore
Would bring a smile,
But seeing you
I find my eyes tear ridden."
"This fog clothes me." Medea said,
"Hephaestus,
I don't see
I'm not seen,
So sorrow drifts about me."
"There's a wardrobe aboard this strange ship I study.
A coverlet for your grief," Hephaestus said,
"Least all that see you become tear fallen on their knees."
"Kindness I can hear, thank you." said Medea.
No sooner than Medea and Hephaestus reached
The Black Deck of the Black Ship,
Than the fog began to lift.
All about the Ship,
Hephaestus servants busied themselves
Examining this and that.
Medea emerged from the Captain's Cabin
Appareled in black silk pantaloons and maroon silk blouse,
Standard colors of a Black Ship Captain.
A Raven from the rigging flew down to her shoulder,
Chattering in her ear.
"Oh, quickly Hephaestus," Medea said.
"Set your servants to scrubbing the Black Deck!"
"The sky darkens with storm clouds,
It will rain soon," Hephaestus said,
"And wash the deck,
Which is indeed, I've observed, a mess."
"Nonetheless, do it Hephaestus." said Medea.
"This Raven befriended a piece of wood,
And tells a tale.
Can your automatons sing?"
"Sing, dance," Hephaestus said,
"They are musically inclined as can be,
Being tasked with amusing all Olympus!"
"Set them to cleaning,
Set them to singing,
Medea said,
"This Black Ship
Beyond the Pillars of Hercules
Is seeking!"
DolphinWords
Notes:...play script is all dialog, so it's easy...just put names up of who is speaking, and since the scene is set...is a set!...one can dispense with it quick...but then, in narrative, I get stuck with the 'he said' and 'she said', which normally is an opportunity to describe the emotion of the speaker, but I'm hearing the alliteration of the words, and that messes it up...I'm hoping the 'saids' just drop away in silent reading...oh, this dilemma is annoying...nearly as annoying as rap poetry...profanities are easy to rhyme, and rap poets can go on and on entwining nearly everything, though the tendency is to relate ones own entwinings, the more profane the better!...just so just such won the 'poetry slam' at OCPC, Orange County Poetry Club, last night...of five or six contestants, they were all rappers...and apparently, the 100 dollar prize is at the end of a December rainbow...a final then between the advancements from each previous slam...I don't know how many have gone before...from each, three winners advance...I had fetuccini and my one beer while I listened, happy enough to have seen the Giants' homerun over the Mets while at the bar getting the beer...they advance from the wildcard game...I have a poor 'ear' for spoken performance...anything like a college professor in a foreign language class, and I'm deaf...rap is beyond me, but I brought home another OCPC publication, the fourth, from the featured reader...Stepping Stones by Mister Soul Brew...the book cover has this charming conceit...some white stones arranged like a footprint next to some brown stones arranged like a footprint...inside are some more illustrations in the same notion...I need to figure out how illustrations are included in these little books!...I managed to get his autograph in the book before he waltzed off...poetry is like 99 per cent listening, discussing, regarding, caring, for other poets...maybe 1 percent you allot to yourself!...a theory...but I don't know, circumstances that may be unknown to me determine comings and goings!...after the slam, and featured reading, a few, about half, remained...and Alonso entertained...I had Alonso first, and Soul Brew second, in the slam...I think Alonso might already have made the finals...once advanced, one can't win a ramp up slam...but likely can still participate...I may have gotten roped into competing, but arrived late, but at the very start...so okay...just as well...I'm a poor fit for these evenings!...like some cod from the frozen cold waters of Iceland swimming in a tropical reef...they're all young...and a fine group...I watched some cbs tv drama when I came home...and thought, 'this is so 'old'...anyway, I think I've found a way to remain calm behind that microphone...or without...Alonso had all his effort memorized, and disdained using the mic...came right up close to all of us at the long benches, a good trick, which Soul Brew picked up on, and did one of his likewise...that's beyond for me, but, if I silently read to myself a line from iphone, and then say it, that little moment of review slows me down, and I correct a mistake often before I say it...oh, this is conjecture to try out!...maybe next time...
:)
DavidDavid
Mendicants
Aegeus
I may as well have been an ascetic
A mendicant with his cup
With thistles in his
Unshorn hair
From sleeping in fields
Alone under the stars.
Medea
You would have an heir.
Aegeus
I would, and take my place,
A king among kings,
Rather than a pauper alone
With a grandiose dream.
Medea
I will have your son
As you now have me for wife.
Aegeus
Just so, things have transpired,
I gladly admit,
Having this night been with you.
Medea
The morning birds
Greet the sun,
We too
Should say ours prayers of thanks.
Take my hand,
Together we'll join the melodies
In your courtyard's garden.
Aegeus
Oh, your Dragons run to you in greeting,
Medea,
Like Artemis' hounds happy to see her.
Medea
Yes, unshackled, unchained,
How?
Aegeus
On the courtyard's flagstones,
Some manner of sea wrack.
It stinks, and sticks to our bare feet.
Medea
Dragon vomit.
The Chariot of Helios is empty...
Palace Attendant
Aegeus!
The Golden Fleece is gone!
Aegeus
How?
Attendants
We know not...
Some spell came over us and knocked us all out!
Aegeus' Warrior
Aegeus!
Theseus and his bunch have broken down our wall!
They come for Medea, vengeance wild in their eyes.
Medea
Come with me, Aegeus!
Aegeus
I cannot.
Medea
I bear your son!
Aegeus
I bear my Town,
As a King I am.
Stay I will
And defend,
Least our son be barren.
Medea
As I have always been
Here or there,
Not one place of peace have I ever known.
Aegeus
I am bound to you Medea,
Some far future awaits,
But this one,
Immediate slaughter,
Mustn't be.
Go.
Medea
What can be, can be.
The Dragons fly off with Medea and the Chariot of Helios
Medea's Sorrow
Medea knelt in the soft fine sand
By the graves of her sons
And wept.
Eye blurring fog surrounded
And the bays lapping waves
The only sound.
"Go." she told the dragons
"Return Helios' chariot.
I know not where you brought me
Nor care.
I'll wander these shores now,
Alone,
With sorrow my only garment."
Automatons Can Sing
From the bow of the Black Ship,
Hephaestus sighted a solitary figure
Walk past along the shore below.
He hurried down the gangplank,
"Medea," he said
"Normally a woman nude
Along the shore
Would bring a smile,
But seeing you
I find my eyes tear ridden."
"This fog clothes me." Medea said,
"Hephaestus,
I don't see
I'm not seen,
So sorrow drifts about me."
"There's a wardrobe aboard this strange ship I study.
A coverlet for your grief," Hephaestus said,
"Least all that see you become tear fallen on their knees."
"Kindness I can hear, thank you." said Medea.
No sooner than Medea and Hephaestus reached
The Black Deck of the Black Ship,
Than the fog began to lift.
All about the Ship,
Hephaestus servants busied themselves
Examining this and that.
Medea emerged from the Captain's Cabin
Appareled in black silk pantaloons and maroon silk blouse,
Standard colors of a Black Ship Captain.
A Raven from the rigging flew down to her shoulder,
Chattering in her ear.
"Oh, quickly Hephaestus," Medea said.
"Set your servants to scrubbing the Black Deck!"
"The sky darkens with storm clouds,
It will rain soon," Hephaestus said,
"And wash the deck,
Which is indeed, I've observed, a mess."
"Nonetheless, do it Hephaestus." said Medea.
"This Raven befriended a piece of wood,
And tells a tale.
Can your automatons sing?"
"Sing, dance," Hephaestus said,
"They are musically inclined as can be,
Being tasked with amusing all Olympus!"
"Set them to cleaning,
Set them to singing,
Medea said,
"This Black Ship
Beyond the Pillars of Hercules
Is seeking!"
DolphinWords
Notes:...play script is all dialog, so it's easy...just put names up of who is speaking, and since the scene is set...is a set!...one can dispense with it quick...but then, in narrative, I get stuck with the 'he said' and 'she said', which normally is an opportunity to describe the emotion of the speaker, but I'm hearing the alliteration of the words, and that messes it up...I'm hoping the 'saids' just drop away in silent reading...oh, this dilemma is annoying...nearly as annoying as rap poetry...profanities are easy to rhyme, and rap poets can go on and on entwining nearly everything, though the tendency is to relate ones own entwinings, the more profane the better!...just so just such won the 'poetry slam' at OCPC, Orange County Poetry Club, last night...of five or six contestants, they were all rappers...and apparently, the 100 dollar prize is at the end of a December rainbow...a final then between the advancements from each previous slam...I don't know how many have gone before...from each, three winners advance...I had fetuccini and my one beer while I listened, happy enough to have seen the Giants' homerun over the Mets while at the bar getting the beer...they advance from the wildcard game...I have a poor 'ear' for spoken performance...anything like a college professor in a foreign language class, and I'm deaf...rap is beyond me, but I brought home another OCPC publication, the fourth, from the featured reader...Stepping Stones by Mister Soul Brew...the book cover has this charming conceit...some white stones arranged like a footprint next to some brown stones arranged like a footprint...inside are some more illustrations in the same notion...I need to figure out how illustrations are included in these little books!...I managed to get his autograph in the book before he waltzed off...poetry is like 99 per cent listening, discussing, regarding, caring, for other poets...maybe 1 percent you allot to yourself!...a theory...but I don't know, circumstances that may be unknown to me determine comings and goings!...after the slam, and featured reading, a few, about half, remained...and Alonso entertained...I had Alonso first, and Soul Brew second, in the slam...I think Alonso might already have made the finals...once advanced, one can't win a ramp up slam...but likely can still participate...I may have gotten roped into competing, but arrived late, but at the very start...so okay...just as well...I'm a poor fit for these evenings!...like some cod from the frozen cold waters of Iceland swimming in a tropical reef...they're all young...and a fine group...I watched some cbs tv drama when I came home...and thought, 'this is so 'old'...anyway, I think I've found a way to remain calm behind that microphone...or without...Alonso had all his effort memorized, and disdained using the mic...came right up close to all of us at the long benches, a good trick, which Soul Brew picked up on, and did one of his likewise...that's beyond for me, but, if I silently read to myself a line from iphone, and then say it, that little moment of review slows me down, and I correct a mistake often before I say it...oh, this is conjecture to try out!...maybe next time...
:)
DavidDavid
Tuesday, October 4, 2016
OTI:six poems and notes:10/4/16
Open To Interpretation
Not To Be Disturbed
Glauce’s Crew
Glauce's crew pushed them aside,
Making way through the flotilla
Of the somnolent
Black Dragons of the Northern Flight
Afloat on the Black Ocean
Beneath twinkling stars
And a Moonless night,
The crew thought the Black Dragons ice bergs,
Just like the white and blue ice bergs impeding their passage,
But all blackened somehow.
The black bergs' nature puzzled,
And Jason a sudden,
Carried away by his curiosity,
Leaped over the side onto one.
Black Dragons sleep with
Their heads tucked under
Their wings,
So,
A round boulder like bobbing buoey
The Dragon presented to Jason's feet.
And soft.
Jason reached down to touch the Dragon's feathers.
The Dragon stirred, and lifted a wing,
One great eye opened and beheld Jason.
The Beach At Pegasae
“It's beautiful!” Glauce said.
“It's Orpheus!” Jason said,
And set out into the fog,
Glauce and Creon in tow,
Seeking the lyre's melody.
“Jason!” Orpheus said.
“Lord Creon, Princess Glauce.”
And set his lyre aside.
“You've arrived.” Orpheus said.
“Dropped off, you might say.” Jason said. “And abandoned,
We know not where in this fog.”
“It is where we Argonauts began and returned.
Pegasae.” said Orpheus.
“Oh! The Argo is here!” said Jason.
“Yes,” said Orpheus, “what little remains
From the scavenging of Theseus' shipwrights.
His bunch hurry to build their own 'Argo'.”
“Oh...the Argo's prow gone too?” said Jason.
“No, they thought the prow bad luck,
Having fallen and killed you.” said Orpheus.
“We must reach it.” said Jason.
“And you have,” said Orpheus,
“It is where I'm seated.”
“It looks now but a sea worn driftwood log.” said Jason.
The plank from the oaks of Dodona spoke,
“And am I to be sea worms ridden?”
“The plank speaks only to you Jason,
Take it, and follow me. You all have a sight to see!” said Orpheus.
“Oh, the Fleece, by my sons’ graves! A moment,
By our footsteps in the fine sand,
Through this fog
We can return and retrieve it.” said Jason.
“Medea, Athene, now Jason,
We've become the Fleece's burden donkeys!” Creon said.
“Father, Jason’s arms carry the plank,
Orpheus has his lyre.” said Glauce.
“I joke. I know our rich estate,
Rulers of Iolcus, is past,” said Creon,
“And our future now made with Orpheus’ footsteps.
We follow.”
A Wild Meeting
“And who might you be,
Little one?” Onyx said.
“One who hopes you haven't an appetite for breakfast.” Jason said.
Jason dove off Onyx into the sea,
And clambered back aboard the Black Ship Argo.
“A Black Ship in our midst!” said Onyx.
The Black Dragons awoke as it was day now,
And in a wild scramble,
Wing paddled back away from the Argo.
Onyx alone remained nearby,
In open water rimmed by the Dragon Flight.
Gallop
The hull black as night.
Orpheus pointed to the prow,
“The talking plank’s new home.” he said.
And your new ship.”
“Mine?” asked Jason.
“No, not yours, Jason,” Orpheus said,
“Glauce's.
Black Ships have a preference for girls.
Only for a queen, or a princess,
Will a Black Ship gallop across the sea.
So I've been told by the sons of Poseidon that built her.”
“Poseidon?” Jason said.
“My conjecture,” Orpheus said.
“They arrived, mysteriously, with the Ravens and Gulls,
And busied themselves,
Arriving each day with materials on barges
From somewhere at sea.
From just where, no one could discern,
And they are all gone now.
Each day and night this fog.
The Black Ship is their handiwork.
Much to tell,
But first the plank to install in the Black Ship's prow.
Captain Glauce, after you.”
Bemused, Glauce ascended the bow gangplank,
Jason, Creon, Orpheus, in tow.
“The Fleece, bring it!” Glauce said.
“I know that tone!” Creon said.
Quick to this duty,
Jason, Creon, Orpheus,
Retreated back down the gangplank,
Gathered up the Fleece with lyre and plank,
And carried them all aboard.
The fog began to lift, darkening, becoming a black overcast.
The Ravens and Gulls took their places in the rigging.
The three tall masts glowed with corposants.
The crew left off scrubbing the Black Deck,
Set the Black Sails,
And weighed anchor.
In the prow there is a niche for the plank.” Orpheus said.
Jason placed it.
“Now,”, Jason said, “Now the Argo once more!”
The plank from the oaks of Dodona spoke,
“Jason,
Beyond the Pillars of Hercules
Sail south
Until the prow of the Argo
Is as far behind you
As there it will be before you.”
Jason turned to Glauce,
“We sail to beyond the Pillars of Hercules?”
He asked.
“Make it so.” said Glauce.
“Chief,” a crewman nearby Jason spoke,
“There be Dragons.”
Jason smiled, and said,
“What else!”
Orpheus had found some fellow musicians,
And they set to playing,
The crew singing,
Thunder clouds overhead,
Lightning flashing,
The wind up,
The Black Ship Argo
Galloping westward.
Dreamy
No less the Dragons a surprise
To the inexperienced green crew of the Argo
Who had never laid eyes on a Dragon,
Let alone a sea full of them.
Onyx studied Jason and the Argo,
As Jason studied Onyx and the Flight.
“Why haven't you attacked?” Onyx said.
“Should we?” said Jason.
“Some puzzle to this...you, you haven't seen a Dragon before!” said Onyx.
“Not so," Jason said,
"One in partcular I've known,
From outside and inside...
But that tale is far behind...
It's true enough, you have us by surprise,
And likely at your mercy,
Being so many.”
“Just so....” said Onyx.
“Does your Captain sing?"
“She joins our choruses...” said Jason.
“As my crew accompanies my solos.”
Said Glauce,
Joining Jason at the railing.
Onyx gazed at Glauce.
“May we hear a tune?” said Onyx.
“May we see our way free?” said Glauce.
For the price of a tune,
Onyx could rid the Flight of the Black Ship,
Which for some reason he couldn't discern,
Had a crew ignorant of the Black Ship's strength.
“Surely, for a tune,’ Onyx said, “the open sea is yours.
“Deal?”
Glauce smiled, said,
“Deal.
Orhpheus, a tune.”
Orpheus set to playing on his lyre.
The Black Dragons had never heard the like,
And all the Dragons surrounding paddled up close to the Argo.
For the Dragons,
Time was stopped by Orpheus' melody,
And the Argo slipped between them to the open sea.
Glauce hadn't sung a note,
But the Dragons in train behind,
Onyx their lead beneath the Argo's stern,
Followed the Argo like so many ducklings.
And Onyx sighted the Golden Fleece
On its trellis behind the Argo's Red Wheel.
‘A treasure beyond all treasures they have.’ Onyx thought,
And tried to break Orpheus’ spell,
But when Dragons hear a tune
They get so dreamy they cannot even disturb themselves.
DolphinWords
Notes:...well, that's a long bit, reaching post time limit, and I'll not add a whole lot more!...all along I've wanted the Argo for a black ship, I mean, Homer's Catalog of Ships, is a Catalog of Black Ships...thought was to add the Argo to those, and off I go!...why the Ravens and Gulls returned disappointed from all the Towns, no one wanting to contribute ships...too many ships to consider!...and likely I'm not in epic mode...and trying a trick here to go from 'Euripides Medea' mode into narrative mode...I already have things popping up in OTI, willy nilly, so maybe it works...and, and, I rented one of the Rick Riordan Percy movies, the Lightning Thief, on Amazon...plot in that hinges on Zeus' lightning bolt powers being stolen...which is self similar to Cupid's arrows being stolen in my Women Can Do No Wrong...hmmph...minds smitten alike with neo classical ancient greek geek moments likely write alike!...now that I am familiar with Riordan's tales, I have to kind of side step...and did, putting the Black Ship tale back into the Heroic age...wasn't sure myself if it was in the past or future or even on the same planet!...but I'll not change the Liz's crew!...it's poetry...I can do that!
:)
DavidDavid
Not To Be Disturbed
Not to be disturbed
Dragons dreaming
Sleeping
Seldom awaken
Before Dawn's breaking.
Dragons dreaming
Sleeping
Seldom awaken
Before Dawn's breaking.
Glauce's crew pushed them aside,
Making way through the flotilla
Of the somnolent
Black Dragons of the Northern Flight
Afloat on the Black Ocean
Beneath twinkling stars
And a Moonless night,
The crew thought the Black Dragons ice bergs,
Just like the white and blue ice bergs impeding their passage,
But all blackened somehow.
The black bergs' nature puzzled,
And Jason a sudden,
Carried away by his curiosity,
Leaped over the side onto one.
Black Dragons sleep with
Their heads tucked under
Their wings,
So,
A round boulder like bobbing buoey
The Dragon presented to Jason's feet.
And soft.
Jason reached down to touch the Dragon's feathers.
The Dragon stirred, and lifted a wing,
One great eye opened and beheld Jason.
The Beach At Pegasae
Fog so thick
They could barely see the ground,
Jason, Creon, Glauce, mourned over
The graves of Jason’s sons.
Soft waves lapped the fine sand beach of Pegasae.
“Listen.” Glauce said.
Jason and Creon heard the lyre music playing too,
From somewhere hidden
in the fog.They could barely see the ground,
Jason, Creon, Glauce, mourned over
The graves of Jason’s sons.
Soft waves lapped the fine sand beach of Pegasae.
“Listen.” Glauce said.
Jason and Creon heard the lyre music playing too,
“It's beautiful!” Glauce said.
“It's Orpheus!” Jason said,
And set out into the fog,
Glauce and Creon in tow,
Seeking the lyre's melody.
“Jason!” Orpheus said.
“Lord Creon, Princess Glauce.”
And set his lyre aside.
“You've arrived.” Orpheus said.
“Dropped off, you might say.” Jason said. “And abandoned,
We know not where in this fog.”
“It is where we Argonauts began and returned.
Pegasae.” said Orpheus.
“Oh! The Argo is here!” said Jason.
“Yes,” said Orpheus, “what little remains
From the scavenging of Theseus' shipwrights.
His bunch hurry to build their own 'Argo'.”
“Oh...the Argo's prow gone too?” said Jason.
“No, they thought the prow bad luck,
Having fallen and killed you.” said Orpheus.
“We must reach it.” said Jason.
“And you have,” said Orpheus,
“It is where I'm seated.”
“It looks now but a sea worn driftwood log.” said Jason.
The plank from the oaks of Dodona spoke,
“And am I to be sea worms ridden?”
“The plank speaks only to you Jason,
Take it, and follow me. You all have a sight to see!” said Orpheus.
“Oh, the Fleece, by my sons’ graves! A moment,
By our footsteps in the fine sand,
Through this fog
We can return and retrieve it.” said Jason.
“Medea, Athene, now Jason,
We've become the Fleece's burden donkeys!” Creon said.
“Father, Jason’s arms carry the plank,
Orpheus has his lyre.” said Glauce.
“I joke. I know our rich estate,
Rulers of Iolcus, is past,” said Creon,
“And our future now made with Orpheus’ footsteps.
We follow.”
A Wild Meeting
Little one?” Onyx said.
“One who hopes you haven't an appetite for breakfast.” Jason said.
Jason dove off Onyx into the sea,
And clambered back aboard the Black Ship Argo.
“A Black Ship in our midst!” said Onyx.
The Black Dragons awoke as it was day now,
And in a wild scramble,
Wing paddled back away from the Argo.
Onyx alone remained nearby,
In open water rimmed by the Dragon Flight.
Gallop
Orpheus stood beside
the anchor hawser.
Looming over head the
prow of the tall ship, The hull black as night.
Orpheus pointed to the prow,
“The talking plank’s new home.” he said.
And your new ship.”
“Mine?” asked Jason.
“No, not yours, Jason,” Orpheus said,
“Glauce's.
Black Ships have a preference for girls.
Only for a queen, or a princess,
Will a Black Ship gallop across the sea.
So I've been told by the sons of Poseidon that built her.”
“Poseidon?” Jason said.
“My conjecture,” Orpheus said.
“They arrived, mysteriously, with the Ravens and Gulls,
And busied themselves,
Arriving each day with materials on barges
From somewhere at sea.
From just where, no one could discern,
And they are all gone now.
Each day and night this fog.
The Black Ship is their handiwork.
Much to tell,
But first the plank to install in the Black Ship's prow.
Captain Glauce, after you.”
Bemused, Glauce ascended the bow gangplank,
Jason, Creon, Orpheus, in tow.
“The Fleece, bring it!” Glauce said.
“I know that tone!” Creon said.
Quick to this duty,
Jason, Creon, Orpheus,
Retreated back down the gangplank,
Gathered up the Fleece with lyre and plank,
And carried them all aboard.
The fog began to lift, darkening, becoming a black overcast.
The Ravens and Gulls took their places in the rigging.
The three tall masts glowed with corposants.
The crew left off scrubbing the Black Deck,
Set the Black Sails,
And weighed anchor.
In the prow there is a niche for the plank.” Orpheus said.
Jason placed it.
“Now,”, Jason said, “Now the Argo once more!”
The plank from the oaks of Dodona spoke,
“Jason,
Beyond the Pillars of Hercules
Sail south
Until the prow of the Argo
Is as far behind you
As there it will be before you.”
Jason turned to Glauce,
“We sail to beyond the Pillars of Hercules?”
He asked.
“Make it so.” said Glauce.
“Chief,” a crewman nearby Jason spoke,
“There be Dragons.”
Jason smiled, and said,
“What else!”
Orpheus had found some fellow musicians,
And they set to playing,
The crew singing,
Thunder clouds overhead,
Lightning flashing,
The wind up,
The Black Ship Argo
Galloping westward.
Dreamy
The presence of the
Black Ship they surrounded
Stunned the Northern
Flight.No less the Dragons a surprise
To the inexperienced green crew of the Argo
Who had never laid eyes on a Dragon,
Let alone a sea full of them.
Onyx studied Jason and the Argo,
As Jason studied Onyx and the Flight.
“Why haven't you attacked?” Onyx said.
“Should we?” said Jason.
“Some puzzle to this...you, you haven't seen a Dragon before!” said Onyx.
“Not so," Jason said,
"One in partcular I've known,
From outside and inside...
But that tale is far behind...
It's true enough, you have us by surprise,
And likely at your mercy,
Being so many.”
“Just so....” said Onyx.
“Does your Captain sing?"
“She joins our choruses...” said Jason.
“As my crew accompanies my solos.”
Said Glauce,
Joining Jason at the railing.
Onyx gazed at Glauce.
“May we hear a tune?” said Onyx.
“May we see our way free?” said Glauce.
For the price of a tune,
Onyx could rid the Flight of the Black Ship,
Which for some reason he couldn't discern,
Had a crew ignorant of the Black Ship's strength.
“Surely, for a tune,’ Onyx said, “the open sea is yours.
“Deal?”
Glauce smiled, said,
“Deal.
Orhpheus, a tune.”
Orpheus set to playing on his lyre.
The Black Dragons had never heard the like,
And all the Dragons surrounding paddled up close to the Argo.
For the Dragons,
Time was stopped by Orpheus' melody,
And the Argo slipped between them to the open sea.
Glauce hadn't sung a note,
But the Dragons in train behind,
Onyx their lead beneath the Argo's stern,
Followed the Argo like so many ducklings.
And Onyx sighted the Golden Fleece
On its trellis behind the Argo's Red Wheel.
‘A treasure beyond all treasures they have.’ Onyx thought,
And tried to break Orpheus’ spell,
But when Dragons hear a tune
They get so dreamy they cannot even disturb themselves.
DolphinWords
Notes:...well, that's a long bit, reaching post time limit, and I'll not add a whole lot more!...all along I've wanted the Argo for a black ship, I mean, Homer's Catalog of Ships, is a Catalog of Black Ships...thought was to add the Argo to those, and off I go!...why the Ravens and Gulls returned disappointed from all the Towns, no one wanting to contribute ships...too many ships to consider!...and likely I'm not in epic mode...and trying a trick here to go from 'Euripides Medea' mode into narrative mode...I already have things popping up in OTI, willy nilly, so maybe it works...and, and, I rented one of the Rick Riordan Percy movies, the Lightning Thief, on Amazon...plot in that hinges on Zeus' lightning bolt powers being stolen...which is self similar to Cupid's arrows being stolen in my Women Can Do No Wrong...hmmph...minds smitten alike with neo classical ancient greek geek moments likely write alike!...now that I am familiar with Riordan's tales, I have to kind of side step...and did, putting the Black Ship tale back into the Heroic age...wasn't sure myself if it was in the past or future or even on the same planet!...but I'll not change the Liz's crew!...it's poetry...I can do that!
:)
DavidDavid
Sunday, October 2, 2016
OTI:one poem and notes:10/2/16
Open To Interpretation
Stink
Tutor
From the corridors the angry mourners come!
Hold fast to me daughter,
As Odysseus to the mast.
Close your eyes.
Nurse
Father!
Tutor
The throng is upon us
With the human roar dragons envy.
Nurse
Father, it is so quiet.
Tutor
We are else ware a sudden.
Nurse
Dare we open our eyes?
Athene
Creon, Glauce, be not afraid, you are with me.
Creon
How?
Athene
What can be seen
Can be unseen
What can be done
Can be undone.
Creon
I thought myself Jason's and Medea's children's tutor...
Glauce
And I their nurse.
Athene
Just so it was,
As in a dream
You were and you were not,
As now,
You are here
That isn't there.
Glauce
Oh, but it is the same!
My Father's empty throne,
The Fleece on the trellis behind,
Like a tomb, mourners prostrate around the dimly lit room!
Creon
Wait, daughter, it is different.
I know this place,
It is the Palace of Aegeus, good king of Athens,
It has resemblance with mine.
Athene
Just so,
Aegeus' attendants sleep on the floor.
In my arms is the robe of Helios,
An ornamental harmlessness as always,
Impervious to Medea's intentions.
I return it to Olympus,
Its terror to you a memory faded.
Assist me and gather up the Fleece.
Follow.
Creon and Glauce
Again we drag this golden weight!
In the Palace courtyard.
Creon
Helios' chariot,
And the two Dragons chained!
Athene
Give room,
And hold your noses.
Glauce
Athene!
Stand not so close to the Dragons!
Creon and Glauce
Oh, one Dragon vomits out Jason...
He is covered in digestion...
And stinks...
But still whole!
Jason
Where is that witch?
Glauce
And still pissed.
Athene
She beds Aegeus, even now.
Your sons' corpses,
Like forgotten dolls,
In Helios' chariot still.
Jason
Athene!
I am without courtesy,
And not know my place,
Or even where this place is...
Creon?...
Glauce!
Athene
Jason,
Mount upon the chariot with Creon, Glauce, and the Fleece.
I have a task for you.
Jason
Gladly!
I leave off being digested by Medea once and for all!
Athene
Bury your sons beside the Argo on the beach at Pagasae.
The Argo, too long shore bound, has moldered.
The talking prow fell
And crushed to a pulp a sleeping wayfarer beneath it.
Gossip and rumor have it, it is you,
Medea's prophecy of your doom fulfilled.
Let the rumor be so,
What can seem, can seem.
Retrieve the prow's talking plank from the oaks of Dodona.
It will tell you what is next!
Athene unshackles the Dragons, and returns to Olympus. The Dragons with their passenger loaded Chariot of Helios leave for Pagasae.
DolphinWords
Notes: oh, I've reeled in Jason and the Argo!...and in the wings. Aegeus and Medea as well...them, I'll not disturb for awhile!...reference yesterday's post, and Euripides' play Medea...oh, and here is a replica of the Douris cup of Jason, Athene, the Dragon, and Fleece.
:)
DavidDavid
Stink
Tutor
From the corridors the angry mourners come!
Hold fast to me daughter,
As Odysseus to the mast.
Close your eyes.
Nurse
Father!
Tutor
The throng is upon us
With the human roar dragons envy.
Nurse
Father, it is so quiet.
Tutor
We are else ware a sudden.
Nurse
Dare we open our eyes?
Athene
Creon, Glauce, be not afraid, you are with me.
Creon
How?
Athene
What can be seen
Can be unseen
What can be done
Can be undone.
Creon
I thought myself Jason's and Medea's children's tutor...
Glauce
And I their nurse.
Athene
Just so it was,
As in a dream
You were and you were not,
As now,
You are here
That isn't there.
Glauce
Oh, but it is the same!
My Father's empty throne,
The Fleece on the trellis behind,
Like a tomb, mourners prostrate around the dimly lit room!
Creon
Wait, daughter, it is different.
I know this place,
It is the Palace of Aegeus, good king of Athens,
It has resemblance with mine.
Athene
Just so,
Aegeus' attendants sleep on the floor.
In my arms is the robe of Helios,
An ornamental harmlessness as always,
Impervious to Medea's intentions.
I return it to Olympus,
Its terror to you a memory faded.
Assist me and gather up the Fleece.
Follow.
Creon and Glauce
Again we drag this golden weight!
In the Palace courtyard.
Creon
Helios' chariot,
And the two Dragons chained!
Athene
Give room,
And hold your noses.
Glauce
Athene!
Stand not so close to the Dragons!
Creon and Glauce
Oh, one Dragon vomits out Jason...
He is covered in digestion...
And stinks...
But still whole!
Jason
Where is that witch?
Glauce
And still pissed.
Athene
She beds Aegeus, even now.
Your sons' corpses,
Like forgotten dolls,
In Helios' chariot still.
Jason
Athene!
I am without courtesy,
And not know my place,
Or even where this place is...
Creon?...
Glauce!
Athene
Jason,
Mount upon the chariot with Creon, Glauce, and the Fleece.
I have a task for you.
Jason
Gladly!
I leave off being digested by Medea once and for all!
Athene
Bury your sons beside the Argo on the beach at Pagasae.
The Argo, too long shore bound, has moldered.
The talking prow fell
And crushed to a pulp a sleeping wayfarer beneath it.
Gossip and rumor have it, it is you,
Medea's prophecy of your doom fulfilled.
Let the rumor be so,
What can seem, can seem.
Retrieve the prow's talking plank from the oaks of Dodona.
It will tell you what is next!
Athene unshackles the Dragons, and returns to Olympus. The Dragons with their passenger loaded Chariot of Helios leave for Pagasae.
DolphinWords
Notes: oh, I've reeled in Jason and the Argo!...and in the wings. Aegeus and Medea as well...them, I'll not disturb for awhile!...reference yesterday's post, and Euripides' play Medea...oh, and here is a replica of the Douris cup of Jason, Athene, the Dragon, and Fleece.
:)
DavidDavid
Saturday, October 1, 2016
OTI:one poem and notes:10/1/16
Open To Interpretation
Swallowed
Tutor
What have we come to?
Nurse
Oh, the palace throne room is like a tomb.
The throng has their faces to the stone floor,
Praying to the gods in disbelief.
Tears from their faces mingle with blood from Creon and his daughter,
Their bodies now cinders wrapped by Helios' golden robe,
Our mistresses' children's cruel gift for Glauce,
Smeared with burning flesh eating magic,
Medea's witchcraft handiwork
To further her vengeance on Jason.
Tutor
Quickly, before we are noticed,
We must accomplish Medea's appointed task.
There, the Fleece is displayed behind the empty throne,
Like a golden grape vine on its trellis.
Nurse
I, we, dare touch the Fleece?
Tutor and Nurse
Just take it...
Here now in our arms the Fleece is gathered...
Hurry now...
Our bare feet quiet on the stones...
We return to our mistress having escaped the throngs' attention...
But dragging Medea's and Jason's chains.
At the courtyard outside Jason's and Medea's Palace apartments.
Tutor
We interrupt...
Nurse
They are like two combatants, exhausted, pausing to take a breath,
Glaring at one another.
Tutor
Like Priam with Achilles,
Jason would have the return of their two sons, slain by Medea.
And Medea would have her glory,
Complete revenge on Jason,
Take away the corpses to Athens,
Conceal behind Aegeus' shields,
Make good her escape from Jason's wrath,
And the wrath of Creon's mourners.
Nurse
The boys lay limp at her feet in the chariot,
The harnessed dragons crouch to leap, fly up...
Tutor and Nurse
She sees us!
Medea
Bring me the Fleece.
Nurse
Oh!
Our Master Jason takes stance between us and Mistress Medea!
Tutor
And Medea wheels her chariot around!
And one dragon swallows Jason with one gulp!
Medea
Bring me the Fleece.
Tutor and Nurse
We obey.
Nurse
A marvel beyond
To see Helios' chariot arise
Pulled aloft by two winged dragons.
Tutor
No!
Marvel this!
We hear the running approaching steps of the angered throng!
Nurse
That we had been taken aboard
With our master and mistress,
Away from all this,
In spite of all that was done by them.
We soon to be swallowed now too.
DolphinWords
Notes: I was trying to find out just what happened to the Golden Fleece. Jason returns it to Corinth, and from there onwards, no mention I can find, though currently it's:
quote
The Golden Fleece in Greek mythology, is a magical artifact with powerful healing abilities. In the original Greek myths, the original Jason collected the fleece on his journey. It currently resides at Camp Half-Blood on Thalia's Tree, to help strengthen the magical borders after the events of The Sea of Monsters. It is guarded by the dragon Peleus.
http://riordan.wikia.com/wiki/Golden_Fleece
unquote
Camp Half Blood is the imaginative local in novelist Rick Riordan's Harry Potter like saga. He's had a neo-classical moment it seems too!
quote
Camp Half-Blood Chronicles is a media franchise created by author Rick Riordan, encompassing three five-part novel series, three short-story collections, three crossover short stories, two myth anthology books, a stand-alone short story, an essay collection, a guide, four graphic novels, two films, a video game, a musical, and other media.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camp_Half-Blood_chronicles
unquote
hmmph...
:)
DavidDavid
Swallowed
Tutor
What have we come to?
Nurse
Oh, the palace throne room is like a tomb.
The throng has their faces to the stone floor,
Praying to the gods in disbelief.
Tears from their faces mingle with blood from Creon and his daughter,
Their bodies now cinders wrapped by Helios' golden robe,
Our mistresses' children's cruel gift for Glauce,
Smeared with burning flesh eating magic,
Medea's witchcraft handiwork
To further her vengeance on Jason.
Tutor
Quickly, before we are noticed,
We must accomplish Medea's appointed task.
There, the Fleece is displayed behind the empty throne,
Like a golden grape vine on its trellis.
Nurse
I, we, dare touch the Fleece?
Tutor and Nurse
Just take it...
Here now in our arms the Fleece is gathered...
Hurry now...
Our bare feet quiet on the stones...
We return to our mistress having escaped the throngs' attention...
But dragging Medea's and Jason's chains.
At the courtyard outside Jason's and Medea's Palace apartments.
Tutor
We interrupt...
Nurse
They are like two combatants, exhausted, pausing to take a breath,
Glaring at one another.
Tutor
Like Priam with Achilles,
Jason would have the return of their two sons, slain by Medea.
And Medea would have her glory,
Complete revenge on Jason,
Take away the corpses to Athens,
Conceal behind Aegeus' shields,
Make good her escape from Jason's wrath,
And the wrath of Creon's mourners.
Nurse
The boys lay limp at her feet in the chariot,
The harnessed dragons crouch to leap, fly up...
Tutor and Nurse
She sees us!
Medea
Bring me the Fleece.
Nurse
Oh!
Our Master Jason takes stance between us and Mistress Medea!
Tutor
And Medea wheels her chariot around!
And one dragon swallows Jason with one gulp!
Medea
Bring me the Fleece.
Tutor and Nurse
We obey.
Nurse
A marvel beyond
To see Helios' chariot arise
Pulled aloft by two winged dragons.
Tutor
No!
Marvel this!
We hear the running approaching steps of the angered throng!
Nurse
That we had been taken aboard
With our master and mistress,
Away from all this,
In spite of all that was done by them.
We soon to be swallowed now too.
DolphinWords
Notes: I was trying to find out just what happened to the Golden Fleece. Jason returns it to Corinth, and from there onwards, no mention I can find, though currently it's:
quote
The Golden Fleece in Greek mythology, is a magical artifact with powerful healing abilities. In the original Greek myths, the original Jason collected the fleece on his journey. It currently resides at Camp Half-Blood on Thalia's Tree, to help strengthen the magical borders after the events of The Sea of Monsters. It is guarded by the dragon Peleus.
http://riordan.wikia.com/wiki/Golden_Fleece
unquote
Camp Half Blood is the imaginative local in novelist Rick Riordan's Harry Potter like saga. He's had a neo-classical moment it seems too!
quote
Camp Half-Blood Chronicles is a media franchise created by author Rick Riordan, encompassing three five-part novel series, three short-story collections, three crossover short stories, two myth anthology books, a stand-alone short story, an essay collection, a guide, four graphic novels, two films, a video game, a musical, and other media.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camp_Half-Blood_chronicles
unquote
hmmph...
:)
DavidDavid
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