Tag Archives: mythology

THE NEW ARCHETYPES

THE NEW ARCHETYPES

Apollo is still locked into the light
Dionysus still dancing our darkenss

Mars and friends are still busy at war
and Aphrodite’s still getting her way

The old archetypes will never go away
but we have some new ones here today

Elvis is the King
John Wayne is the Duke
and Marilyn is Marilyn

Babe is the Babe and the Boss is the Boss
Diana the Huntress has become the prey

It doesn’t matter if they’ve come
from Mt. Olympus or Hollywood USA
they’re in us now, and they’re in play

IN GREECE

IN GREECE

In Greece
I remember and meet
myself everywhere
I am Socrates questioning
I am the athlete striving
the architect planning
the builder building, the potter shaping
the sculptor seeking, the warrior dying
and the poet pointing

In Greece
I am all men and all gods as well
and I remember
How many times in this life alone
I have pushed the rock endlessly uphill
Carried the world on my shoulders

Had my liver eaten by the savage bird
How many times
I have fallen in love with my own
reflection
Reached out for the sweet grapes and
sweet water
to find them moving always beyond my
grasp
Been forced to echo only what others
have said
Tied myself to the mast to resist the
siren’s call
Fought in a thousand wars
full out on the open field or sea
or hidden in the belly of a wooden horse

GREECE – INDEPENDENCE DAY 2000

GREECE – INDEPENDENCE DAY 2000

We stand in the sunlight of Athens
birthplace of democracy, philosophy
theatre and reason

Here man first learned true freedom

Created gods
in the image of his vices and his virtues
and learned to embrace and best them all

Stores in Athens close for the parade
people gather from miles around

For hours past the viewing stand
soldiers and sailors march in step

Overhead the jets and choppers
roar by in strict formation

Thirty deep and more
people push and flow and smile on cue

I search the marchers and the crowd
Looking for that one toga, one book
One independent mind
One ancient Greek

THE SEA

THE SEA

In two days
three hours on the friendly sea

Back and forth from Mykonos to Delos
past rocks with good seats for sirens
rocking in a cradle still rocking
since the gods were young

Feeling the wake of the island
where she floated invisible in the mists
before agreeing to dig in her feet
and challenge the jealous Hera
providing Leto a birthplace for the
ever grateful Apollo and Artemis

Feeling their blessings

ICARUS UNBOUND

ICARUS UNBOUND

Within the greater urge
of man to soar and fly

It is not uncommon
that some may try and die

Salmon must return to spawn
birds must south and northward fly

The Buddha and the Christ
give focus to the martyr’s eye

The fault lies not
in these unalterable things

But in the material
with which he built the wings