Temple of Poseidon’s pillars clinch wide
in gnarled columns, those silhouetted teeth
some whale skull’s only remains. Say it died
when the sea’s harsh father rose from beneath
Aegean’s waves in rage, lashed the mammoth
mammal against Cape Sounion’s vast crest,
leaving it to parch and decay. The mouth
of glowing moon yawns behind these darkest
of ruins, visible only to us
as villagers sleep, and to that sailor
guiding his craft through shimmering stardust
below, his midnight song a drunken prayer:
Artemis, send a new love to adore
me like a god, there on Patroklou’s shore.
Roger Armbrust
June 20, 2008
