Classic Clarity
Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse
Who’d want to read the ancient poets, myth
And tales, because of facts? Aegean blue
And empty temples, ancient grave sites with
A beaten gold mask may be facts and true,
But true enough? Excited Schliemann sends
The king of Greece a message, “I have seen
The face of Agamemnon.” Culture lends
Us larger truths. Greek daylight in between
Ionic columns, whole or broken, tells
Us more than archeologists. It means
A mindset caught in clarity. The wells
Of Homer’s words are truer in their scenes
Of human anguish than the biggest fact.
They teach us still how we should think and act.
