Poetry International Poetry International
Poem

James Cummins

MYTH

MYTH

MYTH

surpassing all lords by two thirds

w/ rights at the door

the one who would see the world before the flood

built Uruk from the ground up

and beyond the walls wilderness

and beyond the wilds of man

none were safe

but safer still than ruled

iron handed down

pelt and blow

larynx bruised and still

voiced out to an empty sky and ears

until the answer came

in equal measure and might  

another man or beast to the eyes

with the strength of twelve or more

running naked

and wild to the core

until a trapper’s son

doing what a trapper does

shows him shamhat

who takes out the wild

and brings the city in

and inside the walls

his match and mate

lay not once but twice

dreaming first of a meteorite

and then a second time around

a hatchet or axe

both of which he would embrace as his wife

where as in both flights of fantasy (fancy)

the maternal voice egged him on to completion

and when eyes were wide  

her council sought to explain

“a sign” she says

A companion and friend

A wild man tamed

To tame and teach in turn 
Close

MYTH

surpassing all lords by two thirds

w/ rights at the door

the one who would see the world before the flood

built Uruk from the ground up

and beyond the walls wilderness

and beyond the wilds of man

none were safe

but safer still than ruled

iron handed down

pelt and blow

larynx bruised and still

voiced out to an empty sky and ears

until the answer came

in equal measure and might  

another man or beast to the eyes

with the strength of twelve or more

running naked

and wild to the core

until a trapper’s son

doing what a trapper does

shows him shamhat

who takes out the wild

and brings the city in

and inside the walls

his match and mate

lay not once but twice

dreaming first of a meteorite

and then a second time around

a hatchet or axe

both of which he would embrace as his wife

where as in both flights of fantasy (fancy)

the maternal voice egged him on to completion

and when eyes were wide  

her council sought to explain

“a sign” she says

A companion and friend

A wild man tamed

To tame and teach in turn 

MYTH

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