Apathy ‘board Gunnlod’s Mead
A once proud Norse ship, The Gunnlod’s Mead, Now sailed in disrepair. Her damaged masts and tattered sails Dejected in the gloomy breeze, The rotting hull and shattered keel Bashed too many times Against the irony, The reef offshore That Hope’s Last Wellspring Had in store. A cruel misnomer That cried, “Try, try again”, “Just keep the faith”, Providing no prize For the attempt But punishment For the crime. The albatross that led the way Abandoned this ship long ago. The gulls remain and wait To pick at the inevitable, The meal served up By its demise Upon fate’s dinner plate. The mermaids and the succubus No longer need their lure, Nor call out seductively; Lounging patiently On relentless waves. They are confident They’ll get their prey Later in the day. | The lost crew, Marionettes with cut strings Heaped on the parquet. A dance with the listless Swaying to the rhythm of the sea; The maligned, discordant Symphony of Failure Creaking eerily From taught, distorted rigging. All vitality long sloughed away, Like Kvasir’s blood By the always advancing, Always encroaching tide Of frustration And fate. Thus the will is crushed. The struggle grows weaker; Attempts to overcome Fewer and further apart. Desire, trust and faith Are dashed upon the rocks And life becomes A long, drawn-out Savage shipwreck. The once fierce hearts Drift to and fro In the sea’s foamy surf Eroding with indifference, Degrading into entropy, At last arriving, Sinking effortlessly Into the Alongside their picked-clean bones And ruined ship. Their lives and dreams Condemned to the deep By eternal hope. |
Editorial Note: In case you are interested, Gunnlod and Kvasir are figures from Norse Mythology. Their short story may be of interest to the poets around here. By the way, the ship crew’s parrot flies away with the albatross and both live happily ever after together although their interspecies union is never recognized by either the Bush Administration or the Catholic Church nor is it ever legitimized by the Supreme Court.
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