glad you liked this Sue, I: glad you liked this Sue, I was reflecting on my mortality, aging does that from time to time, but then again, aging is a good thing, beats the heck out of the alternative. :)
Why do we need to attack: Why do we need to attack candidates with the use of scurilous appellations, like "hyena,"to those we oppose in the electoral arena? She is a human being, as deserving of basic human resepect as you are, or even as the 45th president. The election is about issues, not name-calling like on some kiddies' playground. I suspect the repetitious reliance upon epithets and slurs is a clever way to disguise a woeful lack of understanding the actual issues.
This poem is so powerful that: This poem is so powerful that reading it is like taking a punch to the stomach. The customary Metaphorist style is well demonstrated in this poem.
You state the issue very: You state the issue very well, in the inimitable Metaphorist style. I suspect that the issue has tormented countless others across the whole spectrum of time. The horrible paradox is that while the problem is experienced by so many, the very experience makes the individual feel so isolated. I applaud your poetic skill---which I have admired for years.
This is a elegy, but not for: This is a elegy, but not for one specific person. What is mourned, fervently and with "hot tears", is summarized with ferocious beauty in these lines:
"Wild forces---Vesuvius, or imperial Rome---
always exert the lethal powers that destroy
the delicately exquisite that we hold sacred."
In this realm of injustice and "lethal powers" where Darwinian aggression is the law of the land, some things are too tender to survive, too beautiful to endure.
This is the realization that crushes Vincenzo, a rare, gentle soul who internalizes the victims' tragedy; He's a man who, unlike most people, has the ideals and the empathy to contemplate the lessons of the past.
Vesuvius is an epic, meaningful metaphor for the countless cruelties and senseless tragedies that cut down the fragile reeds of society before they have a chance to grow. With this brutal reality looming large above him (as you so ingeniously illustrated in lines 11, 12 and 13 that allude to the great loss in Alexandria), Vincenzo becomes a victim himself, a symbol of all the fatalities of oppression and irrational fear. With poignant simplicity and symbolism, our bereaved lover of lovers walks home, shoeless, silenced and alone.
Perfect.
That image stayed with me while its symbolism hung in the air like smoke.
A gorgeously composed and brilliantly condensed saga. Well done!
My heart goes out to you, and: My heart goes out to you, and I have prayed for you. I have chronic heart failure in my old age, so I can relate to this poem.
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