The Anguish of Niobe

Waking to Athene’s azured intrigues, I

sense the gods already afoot, chalking

the gilded offspring, their stalking horses,

pawing at the gates to Eleusis

in anticipation of a game’s opening bunce.

 

A blind woman in the shadows, shrouded

by the amnesic aphasia of a city’s retentate eyes,

waits for the beggar’s plunk of a stray drachma

falling free from antiquity’s purse --

any indication of recognition of those

she’d once nursed in infancy.

 

From inside the brimming bowl, the drum

and bass of a roiling horde, phalanx

of Leto’s sanguineous progeny, echoes

through the memory of centuries

to another time and place, spilling of tears

for the unforgiving green-eyed envy

of a mother’s want to know hers were first

and better born.

 

Surely, it’s in this moment, that myth

becomes the non-fiction --

that eyes open to how little we’ve gleamed

in the daze since Olympus was swept

from our feeble connexions.

Ken e Bujold 

Reviews

[John Sullivan]

Great little piece here! I congratulate you on being so well-read!

[Ken Simm.]

Words and phrases I feel only you can use. This is complex and mysterious shadowing the classical subject matter.Intelligent and classic in its own right and I love how you do not eschew obfuscation here. And by the way I understand that this is far more than a piece of classical poetry.

[Perdition]

Just one more brief point...how long does it take to understand and justify the line " A blind woman in the shadows " you feel that paradox down to your soul...it goes through you as if "what just happened here?". Okay, I'm out..lol.
"

[Perdition]

There is an obvious moment in a lot of poetry written when the tools are recognized and immediate but not yours, you rely on your images and the slow message, words chosen like little children released into the fields but brought to order, and sometimes not-so-subtle alliterations. I don't know how many would, or could relate nor does it matter. You see the woman, you feel the city (as if you would learn of Michael Angelo without walking the different patterns of sunlight as it threads throughout the Sistine Chapel)...you remember the horrific story of Niobe and walk the poetry lines listening at the same pace as your mourning's stroll "falling free from antiquity's purse ". It's just good meat on the bone of an ancient story and as as always worth the time.

[Ken e Bujold]

thank you. often whenever i chose the old myths to reveal the modern realities there's this little niggling voice that wonders whether the message will ring true, get through to the readers. Your reading and review tells me i can and do. Thanks friend

[jaye river]

i see greek mythology has been inspiring you a lot lately! i love it. that second stanza is particularly stunning.

[Ken e Bujold]

thank you Jaye. Myth, history, the personal past always runs through my work. Partly my classics training, but mostly my old soul's affinity for exploring the universal. The 2nd V you so enjoyed, was the key to unlocking this poem. Once I figured out how to position Niobe within the frame the rest locked down.

ken

[Marvin Thomas Cox-Flynn..]

Ken,

There are many obviously not so underlying points said as explained of not left unsaid within this excellently fine piece of Poetry that speaks of 'ire gods or mystical folks long dead that does shalt sweep o'er the puny modernized know it all minds of today's societally Stupidly-Intelligent moronic reader's eyes who secretly play with their own poo pies … Truly enjoyed the read …

Marve

[emmajoygreen]

You use words as if they were lessons dropped from high places or rich sweetmeats prepared for the gentry! Seems we need refer to the past when reading your poetry. ken. But then, lessons come from any and everywhere.. if we bother to slip memories into modern idiom.

'Surely, it’s in this moment, that myth
becomes the non-fiction --
that eyes open to how little we’ve gleamed
in the daze since Olympus was swept
from our feeble connexions.'

Like a dog chasing its tail - in any language?

[Ken e Bujold]

like a dog chasing his tail ... about as apt a description of what i do as any I have heard. :)

[emmajoygreen]

I try desperately try to keep up.. sometimes I do! Are you still on holiday?

[Ken e Bujold]

still on holiday. here in Sing until the 8th of Nov

[Mauricio Montoya]

you write with words I could never understand but it has flow, I had to read again before my comment, I wish I could write like that. thank you for sharing.

[W. Barrett Munn]

These lines alone are worth the price of admission:
" shrouded
by the amnesic aphasia of a city’s retentate eyes,
waits for the beggar’s plunk of a stray drachma
falling free from antiquity’s purse"

This is Ken when he is burning hot, tuning into Ash.

Winston

[fallon]

I had to brush up on my mythology and reread this one. You capture the story of Niobe so well. Then at the end…. My favorite part…. You bring it back to today. A reminder of the lessons from long ago!
Very well done!

[Ken e Bujold]

thanks Fallon. glad you enjoyed. Also as an aside: i always bring the ancient myths forward to grounding in the present. the lessons of the ancients are lessons forgotten but in need of being remembered

[fallon]

Oh so true!!! They are often so relevant even today with all this technology. In a world where we are all so busy.
Thank you for bringing them back…. It’s a great reminder.