Tales From Café Apollinaire
variations on distilled dreams
XV
attracting a curious awestruck crowd
Peer Gynt tells tales
of trolls and troll kings
riding wildly running reindeer
down steep mountain slopes
orgies with milkmaids
wandering the world
gathering riches ruling empires
cheating death and the Devil
returning home at last
to find his aging mother her back bent
always a sadness hanging about her
in visions he had of her
and the woman who loved him
he scorned seeking adventure
returns to take shelter in their arms
returning to where he began
knowing it for the first time-
Jason tells tales of searching
with his loyal Argonauts
for the Golden Fleece
fighting off an army of skeletons
giant birds and fire breathing dragons
Ulysses hearing all this
to prove his righteousness and Machismo
stands his ground speaking
of his twenty years of wandering the seas
to the edge of the world
pass the Gates of Hercules
hearing the call of the Sirens'song
fighting the Cyclops
entranced for seven years
by the succubus Circe-
Gilgamesh relates the story
refusing to be Ishtar's lover
of he and his friend Enkidu
having fought and killed the Great Bull of Heaven
going through the Dark Mountains
crossing the ocean seeking immortality-
No comments:
Post a Comment