Best Poems Written by Mark Littleton

Patra, Marina

This poem is from a book I'm working on of poems based on great poems I love. I have taken their format and the basic style and tried to craft my own poem like it. Just for fun. Not to compete. This poem is based on T.S. Eliot's Marina.  



Patra
( “Marina”) 

Where ships where shells where swords where bursts
upon the brain 
and the flames climbing the masthead
the shadows growing long
and sharp in the evening 
the gulls crying through the mists 
and the steel falling like knives
what memories stain 
O my little one 

Those who lie and cheat and steal, meaning
war
those who devour the lost and unclaimed pieces, meaning 
war
those who take and never give back, meaning 
war
those who live in dark places with rot clotting their tongues, meaning 
war

are judged without quarter
will shrink before the masters
while the holy wind tears through 
and sweeps the hate and rape away
where the streets strip away the clinging sand
where strangers watch those coming back 
from the battles with eyes of bitterness
where the women cringe in the corners
and weep 

it’s a world gone astray 
a world without guidance
a world without rules or anything
worth grasping 

how fight how live how save how give
how hold with the wind shaking your legs
and the waves on your face
as you lie in the surf
face down with nothing
left to give 
and the sparrows staring through the mists 
empty and weary 
what memories remain

my little one

Copyright © Mark Littleton | Year Posted 2013