Showing posts with label Amphinomous. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Amphinomous. Show all posts

Tuesday, February 21, 2017

THE EMISSARY



Baba Yaga has refused for days to leave her house
The other gods fear she’s plotting against them.
From a poem they pick Amphinomous,
The most nearly successful of Penelope's suitors,
To go and talk to her. Amphinomous
Wants no part of this. The last time he agreed
To visit a woman he ended up staying years
And being killed by Telemachus, whom he’d liked.
Too, he is not sure these are really gods.
Who is the thin black man with a top hat?
Why is that the woman next to him
Balancing a cup on her nose? Still, he supposes
That he’ll end up going. He almost survived
Ten years courting Penelope; how hard can it be
To have a glass of tea with Baba Yaga?

Wednesday, January 11, 2017

FROM OUR TRAVEL ADVISOR



If you need a small miracle in Ithaka
Your best bet is to submit a petition
To the one hundred and eight suitors
Who died to mark Odysseus' return.
They rest beneath plane trees in a park
Except for Amphinomous whose corpse
Insisted on being buried by itself.
They do not do heavy lifting, mind you;
But can be relied on for small sums
Found in pockets you knew were empty,
Relief for toothaches and the bad dreams
The local demons inflict on tourists
They cannot cure heartache but know
Large numbers of distracting anecdotes.
Major miracles are done by St. Joachim
Tuesday or Thursday from 10 to 6
And alternate Friday afternoons.