Odyssey
If it were as simple as history,any Dalkey school-boy could remember.
But still it's hard for me to realize
that the mightiest among us fell there,
and someone won his armour on the windy
height of Troy. No clever twist of
strategy could win that fruitless war;
no cunning save us from sword's-edge,
from fire, from lonely death.
And every year from then 'till now
is miles of empty sea. No quiet
harbour waits for me, no loving arms
to welcome home. Nothing can shelter
from the sea-god's wrath.
I square the sails. I wander on.
12 April, 2001
Five Rivers