where have all the epic poems gone?

where have all the epic poems gone?

the short poem

sat in the home,

pondering of when it was longer

more metaphoric,

deeper,

now it tries so hard 

to remember most of the words 

it once held in its iambic fingers

the heart beat has slowed

the rhythm losing its mind

the nurses feed him syllables

hold the thesaurus in front of him

he says he's cold,

feels the chill of obscure cadence

the clarity of stanza

flowing into some misfit wind of memory

the short poem

reaches for its blanket logic

but his fingers are too arthritic

to stretch toward the keys

and his talent is like a carriage

on an old typewriter too rusted

to return to the margins...

erin-cilberto

2/11/17

Reviews

[Isabella Ivy]

Bravo! A fantastic read. I felt so for the little poem. How you made it live :) That's talent! I.I.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you, I.I....

j.

[Isabella Ivy]

Any time j!

[andrew mitchell]

Fantastic work J, one of your top 5 best and i can't remember number one there's been so many. yes where have they gone, a bit like movies, in all the mass production one just stands out as an epic. Ben Hur comes to mind.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

appreciate your kind words, andrew.

j.

[Paul Bell]

It's in us all, just waiting to come out.
Unfortunately my epic writes always seem to be at funerals. Just never looks good taking notes at these sad times.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

i don't know...i shall try forever to write the epic...but the muse has me in my niche---and that kind of epic poem seems to be like the elusive butterfly...but maybe someday i will look out my window and catch a glimpse of something moving in the wind---like Bob Lind once sang.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

and we just keep trying...motivation....thanks, Paul.
j.

[Paul Bell]

I sometimes think you need to be despondent, or have tragedy hit you before you can write the epic.

[redzone]

I do not think I can add to the superlatives that others have already spoken about this poem Jacob.. one of your best I think...

perhaps, the epic poems are left for you to discover and keep them alive... we poets are the needed story tellers....

redzone

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you, Curt.

appreciate you.
j.

[Kesha]

This was so elegantly written, I truly enjoyed this piece :) thank you for sharing!

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you for your kind words, Ou va..

j.

[aLittlePain]

Good lord this is MAGNIFICENT!
love it j. R xo

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you, Rach...

j.

[Tazeen Ahmed]

We hardly see formal poems coming from the youth. Tho the greatest inspiration comes from old, renowned poets like Shakespeare,Robert Frost, Edgar Allan Poe....just to name a few.
One of the best I've read, being honest.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you for your words, Tazeen.

j.

[Norman 223]

The epic poem had its effect on me whilst still in short trousers. My ability to remember long phrases from them resulted in me getting high marks in English and English Literature exams. I can still annoy my wife when I quote lines from Shakespeare etc to back up any arguments :-))

[jacob erin-cilberto]

or lines from what was it "Thanatopsis" (spelling)?

i still do remember some of those long pieces.
thank you for relating, Norman.
j.

[Norman 223]

Thanks Jacob for mentioning Thanatopsis. I had never read it before. American poets were not on the syllabus when I was at school. Quite an interesting poem that aroused quite a controversy among the critics who accused the author of plagiarism from a Spanish poem. ...??? FAKE NEWS ,
N.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

and if you look at that painting of Bryant...he looks very much like a heavily bearded John Gielgud...

[Allen]

the short poem
sat in the home,
pondering of when it was longer
more metaphoric,
deeper,

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you for reading, Allen.