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Myths

_I mined the Grecian myths
_and wrung from them this gem:
The gods amuse themselves with us
and we amuse ourselves with them.

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Chuang Tzu

We steal all our lives,
was Chuang Tzu’s belief,
to gather up booty
for some greater thief.

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O Lethe

__O Lethe sweet Lethe,
_What deserts I leave in the dust.
Wash away the bitter taste
Of little love and endless lust.

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Ian Allaby is a Toronto resident, former editor of the Spadina Literary Review, and author/translator of Selected Verse of Émile Nelligan, a 19th-century master of lyrical fixed-form poetry.

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2 Responses

  1. Roy Eugene Peterson

    Ian, those are three really great concise lessons that are memorable. I can ponder them over and over again! Such powerful meanings and super rhymes.

    Reply
  2. Aaron Nydegger

    Well done. It’s so important to keep ancient wisdom alive by refreshing it in clever ways as you have done here.

    Reply

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