Villanelle Beyond Farewell

Upon the shore Odysseus you stand

The ships long gone--departed east for Troy--

Successfully with salt you've sown the land

You've tricked, eluded Agamemnon's band;

Yet though you're proud of your successful ploy,

Upon the shore Odysseus you stand.

The cost to keep the ships by others manned?

To tightly hold your past? To clutch safe joy?

(Successfully with salt you've sown the land.)

You've lost Penelope. Her heart like sand

Is in the hands of Zeus, her fate, a toy.

Upon the shore Odysseus you stand.

Remembering the plow which by your hand

Rent through Telemachus, your only boy.

Upon the shore Odysseus you stand;

Successfully with salt you've sown the land.

Christopher J. Cramer

distant past