O, dear poetry, how old are you?
give me a glimpse, The Story of Sinuhe
the art just might predate literacy,
before the birth of the written word, BCE
Tale of the Shipwrecked Sailor the eldest fictious
the Epic of Gilgamesh on papyrus
the world’s oldest love poems, verselets
Homer’s ancient epics
Compositions made for spoken word
I finally found out from all I’ve heard
what my dear poetry means to me
the love of artistic lyrical spontaneity
learning of words using them expressively
or impressively, excessively, whatever it takes
with poetic license, there are no mistakes
Works that lead to electric elucidation
with rhythmic flow, meter and alliteration
my primo priority is; my poem pieces make sense,
with rhyme and my love for classic cadence
having the quality of amatory ambiguity,
steered adrift with ominous obscurity
strapping images of suggestive metaphors
I’ll write to inspire as do the troubadours…..
When Attis, in guise of maiden fair, did sing
Unto her comrades, lo, the thiasus stirred!
A cacophony of voices quivering,
The delicate tambourine, it did swell
With resonance, and hollow cymbals rang
With metallic clangor, whilst the nimble choir
Did hasten to fair Ida's verdant slopes
On fleetest foot. Concurrently, Attis,
In frenzy, gasping, led them onward, drumming
Through shaded groves, as wild heifer seeks
To flee the weighty yoke. The swift Gallae
Did follow in her wake, their footsteps swift.
And when, exhausted, Cybele's abode
They reached, wearied from their toil, they fell
To sleep, deprived of sustenance. Languid
Slumber veiled their eyes with drowsy waves;
The savage tumult of the soul gave way
To gentle rest.
:: 4000 BCE ::
Though just a wall
or so it's deemed
She's kept alive
a people's dreams
Myriad pilgrims come
her faithful friends
To renew her glory's
beginning and end*
*Beginning - Inaugurated by King Solomon, c. 1000 BCE
'End' - To be rebuilt with the advent of the Messiah ...
__________________________________
The Western Wall, aka The Wailing Wall,
miraculously survived the razing of the
Holy Temple and the Temple Mount by
the Romans in the First Century C.E.
Jews have made pilgrimages to the
Wall over the millennia, especially since
1967, after the Six-Day War.
A poor soul approached who was singing the blues
He asked, 'What does God no longer want me to do?'
'What is hateful to you, do not do to others
All the rest is commentary, my dear brother'
He said, 'I've never heard it that way before
When you've time, I'd like to hear more'
Though I thanked the blues singer very much ~
Hillel's words, not mine, his heart touched
_____________________________________
Hillel was a Talmudic Sage of the 1st Century
BCE. On the brink of the Sabbath one late Fri-
day afternoon, a stranger asked him: 'Tell me
the Torah on one foot.' Hillel replied, 'What is
hateful to you do not do to others. All the rest
is commentary. Go and learn.' (Talmud,
Shabbos 31a)
I intend to try something new,
Something revolutionary
That defies conventional tactics,
Yet is so subtle in its simplicity
As to be easily carried out
By nervous farmers
About to soil themselves
In the face of certain death.
I’ve had my moment of clarity.
Tell that pussy, Cleombrotus,
Bring on his Spartans.
Note: Epaminandas employed the military principles of mass, economy of force, and a refused right flank to defeat the Spartans.
The Atlantean’s : Bce
(South coast of Britain)
The old man stood on the shore and felt the morning chill cutting deeply into him , the sky was grey and mirrored the mood of the few survivors that had gathered , all of who’m looked outward for a miraculous salvation .
The old one turned ‘and pulling his wrapping’s tighter spoke .
“Now that our beloved Atlantis
is thus consumed by that dark and terrible abyss ‘a new-age has now Dawned “.
“Our home and The people who will forever remain there and the ways Of materialism are dead to us now”.
He paused and briefly looked back to the new great ocean that lay before them .
“And therefore confined to the Deep and thus must become willingly forgotten”.
He bravely smiled back at those gathered around him his eyes streaming and heart breaking .
“let us now in their stead and for the sake of our past ignorance’s and mistakes ‘burn the books of all we know “.
he held up his hand in supplication too the shocked faces of those stood around him .
He gestured towards the inland and continued
“And by that ashen light begin anew to write about the things we don't ........
Ibykos Fragment 286, circa 564 BCE
loose translation by Michael R. Burch
Come spring, the grand
apple trees stand
watered by a gushing river
where the maidens’ uncut flowers shiver
and the blossoming grape vine swells
in the gathering shadows.
Unfortunately
for me
Eros never rests
but like a Thracian tempest
ablaze with lightning
emanates from Aphrodite;
the results are frightening—
black,
bleak,
astonishing,
violently jolting me from my soles
to my soul.
Originally published by The Chained Muse
Ibykos, also spelled Ibycus, was an ancient Greek lyric poet. Ibykos was included in the canonical list of melic poets by the scholars of Hellenistic Alexandria. Originally from Rhegium in Magna Graecia, Ibykos is believed to have moved to Samos during the reign of the tyrant Polykrates (c. 538–522 BCE).
Lately I've seen a poem or two
claiming that Jesus wasn't born a Jew
but rather a 'Palestinian child'
a claim inaccurate and really quite wild
When Jesus was born, there was no 'Palestine'
That name was created at a later time
by the Romans to wipe away all traces of Jewish Israel
A tactic unsuccessful, it never worked very well.
Jesus was born in the Galilee, circa 4 BCE
and crucified 33 years later, about 30 CE, you see
When the Romans captured the Temple (70 C.E.) 40 years later --
That's when the revisionist idea of 'Palestine' first gained favor
Jesus was as Jewish as Moses, the Jews' greatest Rebbe
Those who don't get that, let them go study history
Limerick : Once a President of Bolivia
Once a President of Bolivia
Frothed oblanceolate green saliva
Must dream was Ashoka*
On Andes throne Inca
That’s how COCA-cola drug India.
*ASHOKA, b. circa 304 BCE (reigned: 273-232 BCE): King of Magadha,
was the first great commoner Buddhist Emperor
of India which, then, extended from Afghanistan
to Bengal, and from Nepal to Southern Deccan.
Among his recorded edicts : concern for the peoples’
welfare ; medical attention for the needy ; arboured
thoroughfares ; nomination of officers to oversee
morality and magistrates ; forbade the slaughter of
animals for food or for religious purposes ; required
the reconciliation of all religious tendencies ; wanted
everyone to practice compassion and charity towards
one another and to follow the laws of the Dharma or
Righteousness ; and drew attention to the vanity of
glory and emphasised the supreme aim of Life itself.
© T. Wignesan – Paris, 2013
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