New poetry today is visual
and more than big eyes (cobalt number four?).
The fame of Hercules (residual)
resides in Yusuke's fights: modern folklore.
Penelope and Ruth don't get the praise
that Noin elicits, helping warlike Zechs,
and Samson couldn't match in modern lays
the suicidal fervor Heero reps.
For friendship now, Achilles' time is past;
For Kaneda, whose wrath to pity fell,
contemporary tears and sighs fall fast.
(The animated tales draw hearts so well!)
Contemporary Canon - Author's Notes
Comments:
You can write a Shakespearian sonnet about anything, and boy am I glad. Sometimes you get sick of writing poetry about existential angst, and even sicker of reading it. So writing this poem was fun, because it reminded me that poetry can be ironic and amusing as well.
If you read Contemporary Canon and have any thoughts on it at all, I'd love to read them. I'm new to writing poetry and am still searching for my voice, so any advice at all is very welcome. I like honest critiques.
If you like this piece, I hope you'll visit www.fictionpress.com/~port.
The following are explanations to references made within the poem. I've included even the ones that seem pretty obvious out of a desire to be painfully thorough, and not because of any condescension toward my readers. Please enjoy.
Reference Notes:
Hercules: Mythic Greek hero famous for his strength.
Yusuke: (pronounced YU-skay) The main character in YuYu Hakusho, a manga and television show created by Yoshihiro Togashi.
Penelope: In the Homer's Odyssey, the wife of Odysseus (or Ulysses), who waited twenty years for him to return, all the while trying to repel the suitors who sought her hand.
Ruth: In the Hebrew Scriptures, the widowed Ruth stayed with her mother- in-law, Naomi, saying "for whither thou goest, I will go." She was King David's great- grandmother.
Noin: From Bandai's Gundam Wing, a television show.
Zechs: Also from Gundam Wing.
Samson: A protector of Israel in the Book of Judges. Chained to a pillar in a Philistine temple, he pulls down the roof, killing himself along with his enemies.
Heero: Also from Gundam Wing. He has an itchy self-destruct-button finger.
Achilles: Trojan War hero. When his brother-in-arms and best friend, Patroclus, was killed by Hector, Achilles refused to rest until he'd killed Hector and honored Patroclus with solemn burial rites.
Kaneda: (pronounced KA-ne-da) The hero in Katsuhiro Otomo's masterpiece, Akira. It's both a movie and a manga, and yes, they're both masterpieces. Kaneda spends much of the story trying to avenge his friend Yamagata (and all their other buddies).