Absence Forbidden by Anamnesis
Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem
Pure absence is unknown—as long as mind
Retains the memory, absence is denied.
An ancient poet, wandering and blind,
Can see that fact. His presence has defied
Annihilation of his truths. His song
Forbids Achilles’ death. That death lives on
Unendingly for centuries, centuries long.
The epic opens to the ancient dawn
Of long lost sadness. Sadness does not die.
It fills up every vacuum that might
Swell out as void. A lost Greek sky,
Though cloudless, starless, blue, refuses blight
As far as poetry can reach, as far
As heroism lasts, a singing scar.
