Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Stones

Lately, simple stones have taken on
the heft of enormous boulders.

It could be that our gravity has changed,
or that these rocks are newly made
of a matter with greater density.

I'm ever an enthusiast
for Greek myth, its stories penned far away
in fertile fields of elites bred
from the straying loins of finely flawed gods.

That's what I tell most, but I couldn't
tell you any details about twelve labors,
monsters taken, torn asunder.

Hercules must have shouldered his burdens,
I imagine, froth at the mouth,
drawing on his inner strength to support
the brunt of a weighty world's cares.

Or was that Atlas? The question may be
moot, examining my own thighs.

Francis Scudellari

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love this stanza:

"That's what I tell most, but I couldn't / tell you any details about twelve labors, / monsters taken, torn asunder" and the last two lines!

The blog layout is so awesome! I saw in a comment that you have created it. I recognized your style too.

Akeith Walters said...

Great layout to the new look. I wondered who had created it.

This poem is great, by the way. I think the ending is great. Do I detect subtle sarcasm?

Francis Scudellari said...

Thanks PO & Akeith. I'm glad you like the new banner and the poem. I did try to switch up my style a little bit with this one.

Jenny said...

I like the humorous simmering undertones a lot. In this poem "gravity" becomes elastic, I think. The twist towards the ending is really good too.

Garth said...

Very enjoyable - Light and self depreciating - I did miss any reference to Sisyphus though :D

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

brilliant stanzas which made me a happy ol’ mule for an hour or more. good job.

Anders Enochsson said...

an enigma. I like how you write elastically