“Priestess of Delphi” by John Collier
oh Pythia
priestess of
vaporous wisdom
arise for this poor
troubled supplicant
stand in the shade
that Apollo
bequeathed you
your pink marbled
thighs astride
fumaroles sweating
your center
your secret skin
dripping with prophecy
he needs the truth
of tomorrow
accept here
his tributes
of laurel and liver
and drachma
please sing him
your verse but
acknowledge that
he is mere peasant
stock mortal
so spare him
inscrutable songs
meant for demigods
kings and half-heroes
did perish at
misunderstanding
your meter but he
has no grandeur
at stake so he begs
simple clarity hoist him
so he may see out
through your eyes
feel your fluids
of foresight
hear the voice
of Olympian winds
in your ears
his dilemma
unfolded his
choices laid down
free from irony
brooking no judgments
wants pointing the
destinies open and
waiting for him but to
act does he fight
to continue life
broken diminished
its damaged course
carried by pain or does
he simply not
(originally posted January 2014)
Ah,the silver-tongued oracle whose prophecies could be taken two ways, the message always carefully masked by ambiguity. Strong poem. I love it.
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and a perilous ambiguity at that
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Amazing work loved the read
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much appreciated
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Beautiful words.
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thank you kindly, aubrey
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😳. Wow!
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a much appreciated exclamation
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Reblogged this on Poesy plus Polemics.
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I do believe the English Professor at Large nailed this one on the comment front – beautifully crafted poem.
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her own writings are quite fascinating – so much personal history of Hollywood
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appropriately ambiguous . . .
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I would very much like to reblog this. Would that be okay? It is so endearing to me and mythical in it’s beauty. By that I mean it’s huge to me. You are an excellent poet, a bard!
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I would be honored, Carol
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O thank you so much!
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Reblogged this on WritersDream9 and commented:
I love Mythology and I love this poem because Paul balances the masculine and the feminine exquisitely!
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thank you for sharing my poem with your readers
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Reblogged this on OUR POETRY CORNER.
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thank you for sharing my poem with your readers
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Wow! This is wonderful
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your kind comment is sincerely appreciated
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Marvelous words
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much appreciated
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It’s a pleasure
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?
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Reblogged this on <a href="http://ourpoetrycorner.
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thank you for sharing my poem with your readers
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