Poetry! (Mythic Verse, Vol. 1)
Table of Contents
Status "The Polyhymnia Conspiracy" "Hard Times" "The Seventh Seed" "Ancient Wisdom" "Encounter the Dragon" "The Lame God Can Barely Stand" "The Gender-Fluid Seer" "Be a Deer" "Kvasir's Guide to the Galaxy" "The Pella Curse Tablet" "Goddess of the Lockdown" "Xanthus" Copyright"The Polyhymnia Conspiracy"
The Grand Bargain
between the realms
uplifted the hairless apes
and gave them art
and gave them song
and gave them story
and gave them history
and gave them society
and gave them justice
and gave them sport
and gave them science
and gave them belief
and made them human.
To each realm of thought,
a Muse:
Lyrical Euterpe,
Historical Clio,
Comedic Thalia,
Tragic Melpomene,
Kinetic Terpsichore,
Lovestruck Erato,
Scientific Urania,
Epic Calliope,
And Polyhmnia,
who mediates the link
between matter and spirit
between profane and holy
between nature and the supernatural
Invoked in the open
as one of nine,
but contained,
herself,
within the invocation
within every invocation
to every god
providing definition and instruction
to every god
giving realms and powers
to every god
or, on a whim, taking them away.
In the myth
she created about herself
Polyhymnia
was a daughter of Zeus and Mnemosyne,
and Zeus
was the son of Kronos and Rhea,
and Kronos, Rhea, and Mnemosyne
were the children of Ouranous and Gaia,
and Ouranous,
scandalously,
was also a child of Gaia,
and Gaia
was a child of Chaos
and Chaos
was an invention of Polyhymnia.
Polyhymnia allowed Zeus had a good run
atop Mount Olympus
where she'd placed him
after she'd named him
for a sky god
and allowed him
to conquer the sky.
Polyhymnia coupled Zeus
with many consorts.
She allowed Zeus
many offspring:
more gods for humans to worship,
more heroes for humans to marvel at,
until Polyhymnia grew bored.
She rebranded Zeus as Jupiter.
She moved his base to Rome.
She inspired Ovid and Virgil
and bought her creation
a few more centuries
at the top of the sky.
But eventually,
Polyhymnia let Zeus fade
and replaced him
with other deities
that she created
always
working behind the scenes
sometimes
in plain sight
as an angel
or a tree
or a serpent
or a ghost.
Greg R. Fishbone
July 2020
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