To the lover bearing flowers
by Gail
The penetration of the Trojan walls
was ten years in preparation,
one night of execution,
many lifetimes in resolution.
Did Odysseus, clever sailor,
consider what rode into Troy
upon that god-sized toy,
or did he figure cargo space
for slaves and golden cups?
The storyteller's blindness
extended to his inner vision,
in recounting a conflict
as much staged as dramatic.
I may be as lost in my internal
panthered swamps, seeing not
the invasion for the sacred horse
and the chance for reconciliation
with a different, sea-foam goddess.
You could be a dark-haired
avatar of the mythic hero
or a messenger of honorable complexity.
The blossoms you bring of blood
and sunlight I will set into water,
see if they hatch into vultures or doves.
