Aeolus – a first draft

The winedark sea that Homer saw
         only in his imagination
the sea that Ulysses sailed
         en route to Troy
a man both mortal and immortal
         one inseparable from the other
a man and his destiny
         laurel leaves and the bitter taste
of unripe olives
         such a tale from the cocoon
of his blindness

Art is from the eyes
         it is perception and intuition
a hunger for human narrative
         for what will make sense
of a universe in which meaning
         is neither here nor there

Fate spins
         and everywhere is felt
the footfall of the gods
         Aeolus a draft
driven by a line from Pindar
         What is a man
but a dream of a shadow
         his splendour
but a gift of the heavens
         Say nothing of love

John Lyons