What Argos Said But No One Could Hear

by Adela Nicolae

 

I have waited faithfully for you.
Twenty years of the same beachside view,
Sniffing briny air and gray stones.
The shores painted with our memories,
Where we spent evenings under night’s deep veil,
Have not been graced by your ships for twenty years.

I have waited patiently for you.
Lying on the same tattered rug in the hall,
Now filled with disgusting suitors who
Soil your family’s spirits and your home.
I stay,
I dream,
I remember.

She cries,
She weaves,
She remembers.
“My Odysseus!” wails your Penelope.
Doubts swirl in her head,
They cloud her eyes
As she unpicks the thread.
But I had no doubts of you coming back,
So I wait.

I see you
Pace down the weathered path,
Masked in grime;
I remember you.
How can I contain my pure glee?
Beneath the grime you smile

But something has changed.
Sea salt masks the
Sugary sweet scent of ambrosia.
You have become a slave to
Glory, wealth, and godesses.
Twenty years have crippled my puppy bones

And I’ll meander down to the beachside
On my frail legs to die a little:
Not of old age but of a broken heart.

 

 

Adela Nicolae is a freshman at Carnegie Vanguard High School in Houston, TX. She enjoys writing poems and short stories and has recently discovered slam poetry and theater through her school’s theatre company.