literature

Troy, Falling

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dialtonepoetry's avatar
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Literature Text

we were asleep while we were dying
tucked under darkness and old stained sheets
like the Trojans dreaming
victory on the eve of ambush
like the ball-fisted babes 
in the chamber of the womb

we missed the tell-tale oracle bone prophecies
lowering ourselves down from night into morning
the rope worn around our necks
which was not a noose
which may become a noose
ancient rune burned in the flesh of our hands
lips threaded tighter than a spider's web

it was us who let the Greeks in

we were asleep while we were dying
dank cloth pressed to our faces
we dreamt we heard gavels and drums
as we were rutted off the scaffold
below us the chanting echoed louder:

        Neco Neco Neco
        Prima quies incipit

it was us who let them in

(2013) 
© 2016 - 2024 dialtonepoetry
Comments5
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Braxton-T-Rutledge's avatar
Again, I am a fan of how the poem reads, 

'tell-tale oracle bone prophecies' - I'm not 100% sure, as no one can be, but I don't think the greek oracular tradition employed bone readings. 

and the Latin seems out of place when dealing with Greek legends, but having attempted, a long time ago during my first go round of college, to learn something of ancient Greek, I can understand the choice. I would also say I don't think the passage enhances the poem. 

I feel like this is a poem which could be revised a little and the surface of dealing with the guilt the dead guards of troy might feel, it could also be a metaphor for a relationship of some sort, complacency killing it, allowing something in that shouldn't be let in.