The Trojan War Cycle: four cardinal points

I.           Casus Belli: Paris Clothed in the Sun

II.       Outlier: Odysseus, MIA

III.   Outlier: Agamemnon, Veteran of Foreign Wars

IV.    Outlier: Helen, Displaced Person  

Casus Belli:  Paris, Clothed in the Sun

Cattle Chant

dawn-bearing daughters of Helios,

dawn-bearing daughters

trail white robes above

cattle flocks

trail white robes

& reckon the price

of the three-hundred sixty

head

reckon the price

lady behold Paris

clothed in the sun

clothed in the light of the

ring-dancing sun

lady behold the light dancing

not on shapes of warriors

not on shapes of warriors

but on Paris who goes

as if to a dance

on Paris who comes

as if to the dance

day-carting cattle of Helios

day-carting cattle

  

trail white flocks over

dun-colored hills

trail white flocks

& meander your thoughts

along dusky rims

meander your thoughts

& beckon the dancers

over hilltops

beckon the dancers

Outlier:  Odysseus, MIA

Sirens

trees are heavy with swell

luxury, lilacs

wind-clustered

twist and bend

sheer torque of day

nor do I spot birds in the branches

when catching their high notes,

their homely phrases

discrete at the margins

nor do I see city folk

passing beneath my window,

heels striking pavement

like an axe

old cables woven in among the

treetops

hum a human hum:

inside: wordless voices

impassioned,

hum-drum

atop tall poles

birds still peck

rotting wood

trees are top-heavy with their

luxury, and notes

wind-clustered

mix and rise

around the top-mast

wheel birds,

plying song;

below,

I’m roughly bound –

longing bound

by cables.

we spin out to sea –

do they beckon me?

or reckon me?

insinuating their song,

sensuous throng –

sense of right,

sense of wrong

unreeling

for lost lives I sigh

pointlessly

in lost dreams I cry

noiselessly

shattering crystal

harmony

hurtling along,

unfurling

oh my high cry sever

the reins –

give mast its head,

let it part the seas

how far out we are

and you sing me no

horizons

in the ocean-blue galaxy

just one white thread

where we glide on the sheer

wonder of  wings

Outlier:  Agamemnon, Veteran of Foreign Wars

B Movie

At an outpost in the Wild Wild West

A cowpoke called Agamemnon

Bridled at cards,

Sidled up to the bar,

Jigged on the brink,

Swigged his drink,

Sagged his face and

Bragged he’d lasso

Space

With a Lobachevsky curve –

He clean forgot to glance over his shoulder

Where darlin’ Clementine dangled a noose

Spun from the crook of her tiny arm:

Empty of child

Outlier:  Helen, Displaced Person

Vision

Egyptian Helen, who will know

You flew wreathed in cloud

To Pharos?

The blind heart of Hector

Lost your trace,
Hard-driving smart ax-blows

That set the face

And the heart of your master

Is a dusky cell

Provident of sorrows

More golden than you were

But learning far hope

On the marge of Omphalos,

Hot tears focusing

Wavering space

Is one who will see you

At home in your place,

Husbanding the fire of your

Wild heart.