Helen

[Leanne]

The poets write poems of poems,
the singers sing songs about songs,
and each thinks he’s one of the other,
so nobody’s where he belongs.

The epics have turned into dribbles
of pop culture yearning for fame;
the Odyssey takes you to Sony --
they’ll swap you a soul for your name.

Your face launches millions of youtubes,
and Paris will feed you for free --
but ten years adored? Try ten minutes!
(Five more if there's nipples to see).

Your battles will rage on, internal;
the “serious artist” will bleed
and beg you abandon this lover,
who covers your visions with greed.

And far in the distance an echo
of purpose oblique to the breeze
brings hope for sensational rescue
(with photographs; left profile, please).

But the oceans are empty and silent,
all the heroes have run from the fight,
and the sirens have no-one to sing for
as they whimper in Morphean night.

The poets have finished their poems,
and all of the songs have been sung,
so nothing is left but the lotus
and photos of when you were young.

[popeye]

Good one Leanne... Helen of Troy??

[Leanne]

or some variation thereof

[abu nuwas]

Such a beautiful weaving of strands -with wit, and sad reflection. Perhaps not entirely true about the seas, which buzz with ferries of one sort or another, but the underlying truth is there. Not only has the Heroic Age passed, with its slightly alien value-system, but the modern Hellenes are without hope, and bullied into submission by the barbarians from the North.. As there is no Byron to stand up for them, wait a week or two, and they will show up on your shores, seeking the Golden Fleece of the Gold Coast...or just fleecing the Gold Coast's inhabitants.

Despite your pooh-poohing, or doubts about the purpose, I hope that a collected works will be forthcoming.

[Leanne]

We have a pretty huge Greek community here at the moment -- personally, I'm quite happy about that, they make great souvlaki! And we've plenty of "locals" to fleece us without needing any extra help in that department.

They say that Byron could easily have been crowned King of Greece... I wonder if today he'd even rate a mention in the New Yorker? Probably not, he never did write transparent and anti-metaphorical garbage, he simply wouldn't do for those who know

[penguin]

Loved the poetry. Not so sure of the politics - Paris will feed you for free. I hardly think so!

Why not "Your internal battles will rage on"?

I don't really get the first and last verses, though I love the very last line.

The poets write poems of poems - I did notice you had a down on Billy Collins.

[Leanne]

Loved the poetry. Not so sure of the politics - Paris will feed you for free. I hardly think so!

I wasn't even thinking of the Euro situation... funny how meaning can shift with world events

Why not "Your internal battles will rage on"?

Because it buggers up the meter

I don't really get the first and last verses, though I love the very last line.

The poets write poems of poems - I did notice you had a down on Billy Collins.

I once had an argument -- sort of, I gave it up as a bad joke considering the opponent was a halfwit -- with someone who insisted that Jewel and her ilk are "real poets". I have an absolute hatred of the cadre that insists on dumbing down poetry to appeal to the masses -- I prefer the (much smaller) school of thought that believes in writing something worth reading and the audience will be inspired to use their brains.

None of that is specifically in here, it just tends to inform a lot of my writing... I'm still trying for the "something worth reading", of course

[abu nuwas]

I like Greeks, and lived among them for a while, in North London. Everyone got into the habit of saying ''Good day'' or ''Good evening'' and ''Thank you'' in Greek, in the shops, and one day, the ab surd situation happened when I and another customer did this and also the shop-owner. All of us were English

[billy]

i like their kebabs

good insight on the changes of what we value as worthy.
how people no longer create for the love of creating but instead, create with one aim only...to be famous.
funny and in the words of social media...worthy of going viral

[Leanne]

people no longer create for the love of creating but instead, create with one aim only...to be famous.

perzackly

[Philatone]

generally like the tone and the lines you put together here, leanne. nice take on the topic. i'm happy to be seeing things from you again!

[penguin]

Just my preference, of course, but I'd rather bugger up the metre than that formulation! Or "The battles will rage on inside you".
I've not heard of Jewel and her ilk. Mind you, I've never met any real poets, either.

[rowens]

I've seen people talk on their mobile phone for the sake of using their mobile phone. YouTube and all that has an addictive quality. And so does literature. So people do a lot more commenting than living, and a lot more considering that creating. Because it's hard to find anything inspiring unless you go out and do things. I've been trapped here, in a bad situation for several months; and I can understand why people cling to sad poems or poems of sarcastic criticism, because the stuff is everywhere. It's obvious that suffering and sarcasm are what most of us share in modern---postmodern---times. A poem like this shouldn't inspire more literature as much as more change. Because, we hear people criticizing and complaining constanty, when they are the very ones propagating, supporting and clinging to the things they're badmouthing and being slavishly subjected to: Helen or that blind cyclops in his cave still have more energy than much of what's alive today.

[Leanne]

Ah, but poetry -- and the characters in poetry -- would die with barely a whimper were it not for those people commenting and considering. Creating is not for everyone, and it is not poetry that inspires change, but what people take from it. The poet can do little but write and hope it reaches below the surface, praying that people will see that sarcasm, wit and ridicule are simply the gloss that leads the eye to more profound critique of society itself and exhorts the reader to take action, even if that action is only changing his/her own world view.

[rowens]

I don't disagree with you in the least. But the people that have power, or even the people that benefit from those in power, or believe that they do, will put your faggoty poetry writing self in a mental hospital if you start talking like that. I know from experience. Doesn't mean you're going to stop writing it though. But character assassination is a powerful thing. I liked your poem. I like my poems, a little bit.

[Leanne]

I don't know about where you're from, but here it's considered a national pastime -- or perhaps a civil obligation -- to ridicule those in power. It may or may not actually keep the bastards honest, but it would be unsporting not to give it a go

I've found that most poets (proper ones, not poetasting wankers) don't like their own poems any more than just that little bit. It never stops 'em writing more, though, thank goodness.

[rowens]

I've written a lot of poems about Australia. That's where you're from, right? I got thrown out of Outback Steakhouse once for trying to get them to let me buy one of their flags. "We're not a store!" They shouted. But this is America, and this is Money, I exclaimed.
Big mistake.

Australia. A place I will go. Despite the fact that my passport is revoked. I'm full of Australian wine right now.---So I ask a serious question: Does Billy Collins have any qualities, in your mind?

[Leanne]

Yes he does, but to describe them I'd have to use extremely rude words :p

Australian wine is a wonderful lubricant for creativity, glad you enjoy it! (Outback Steakhouse is an American chain, btw... we hate them here, though they crop up all over the place)

[rowens]

Well I hope the fact that they didn't approve of me makes me less hate-worthy in your country. After all, I only wanted a flag.

[Leanne]

I find it offensive that they didn't give you a flag just for asking

It probably does decrease your hateworthy ranking, though the whole no passport thing might be a bit of a problem...