Homer's (the blind man's) poetry  III as seen by the waiter

"Iliad I - Iliad II - Iliad III - Iliad IV - Iliad V - Iliad VI - Iliad VII - Iliad IIX - Iliad IX - Iliad X - Iliad XI - Iliad XII - Iliad XIII - Iliad IV - Iliad XV - Iliad XVI - Iliad XVII - Iliad XIIX - Iliad XIX - Iliad XX - Iliad XXI - Iliad XXII - Iliad XXIII - Iliad XXIV"

"Iliad III"
 

III

book three

  As life is mis-led by

mis-trust

mis-understanding

mis-interpretation

mis-communication

mis trust and other misses

where missing the point

insisting on common viewpoints,

I have my own standpoints.  

Hector and Paris,

next to their father Priam,

from the highest tower

are looking at the spectacular show

near and on the beach

where boats are being played with

by Zeus's brother Poseidon,

while brother Hades peeks over the horizon,

counting souls, his dogs are barking.

Priam waves Helen,

to sit with him,

and to watch the gods doing many years work

in less than one afternoon.

Here Priam teases her as he asks

if she recognizes the man who used to share her bed,

her nearly ex-husband,

the one she is not yet divorced from,

as well as

any

of his men out there trying to secure their ships.

And the Argonauts are busy like ants,

small like ants,

suntanned like ants and poisonous like ants,

but in the distance of no threat to him Priam

King of Troy in the line of Dardanus, a son of Zeus.

And Priam plays with her mind,

as her head leans against his shoulder,

"He just can't be without you?"

And Priam adds:

"Helen, never mind. I know you pussy-whipped my son.

That's the nature of the beast. Neither you nor Aphrodite

will ever be a problem, you women are a pleasure

nobody lesser than the gods invented.

You too are a gift to man to keep him on his toes."

And together they scan the beach

and there is a sad undertone in the old man's voice:

"Helen, the problem is not you, nor your tempting beauty,

it's just a game for the gods' sake;

it's just for their amusement,

it's their newest table game,

it's them who move their pawns, we are."      
 

...at home...

"Iliad I - Iliad II - Iliad III - Iliad IV - Iliad V - Iliad VI - Iliad VII - Iliad IIX - Iliad IX - Iliad X - Iliad XI - Iliad XII - Iliad XIII - Iliad IV - Iliad XV - Iliad XVI - Iliad XVII - Iliad XIIX - Iliad XIX - Iliad XX - Iliad XXI - Iliad XXII - Iliad XXIII - Iliad XXIV"