It’s an age old problem
We love to see him marching in parades
Blue and brass glinting in the sun
But when he steps out of the battle
Relief slowly
Gives way
To frenetic pulsing
The battle’s not done and Troy burns on
He wrestles the demons that follow him home
Struggling to find place in the calm
Lowering his heartbeat and guard
How do we bring the warrior home?
From Ithaca to Vietnam
The age old problem
We want him to be fierce
Just not here
We can’t understand
We wave our flags, but
The nightmares make us nervous
We have trained him to be a warrior
Blinder than Tiresias, we proclaim he’ll be blessed
Just later
An honor deferred
Let him wander the open sea
Leave him to bet his cunning against Calypso
Muttering his stories in the gutter
A beggar in his home land
Athena’s not coming
How do we bring the warrior home?
From Ithaca to Vietnam
The age old problem
We desperately want Odysseus to return
But we don’t know what to do once he’s here.

~suelarkinsweems ’13