Poem: To the Gods

 

To the Gods

 

i send you trinkets of my life

in a basket of disloyal tears.

 

my armor of wounds,

more feeling than blood,

that goes in first.

 

next i fold with care

and tuck in place

this brutalized truth:

 

cities of cursed children,

whom i once sobbed to invoke,

and yet never dared to see.

 

next comes dawn’s ocean.

rainful songs of spring.

aromas of sage-rich chaparral.

and dew-garlanded forests.

as well, i place an enduring kiss,

one i received long ago,

and still it heals across decades.

 

finally a dandelion, i give you this,

joyous in sunlight,

quivered by breeze.

 

i know you will not respond,

or even understand my gift,

 

but i have some hope,

by this offering, 

faint as an angel's feather,

to forgive the gods.

===================

11/24/25

6/24/24 ... 

10/30  "disloyal" replaces "unloyal"

8/24 "garlanded" replaces "sprinkled"

8/17  "add" replaces "place"

On first glance, this is one of the best poems I have ever written.  Of course, as is usual with such things, I am probably wrong.