The Persians by Archilochos
Someone said you were dead
it’s not that I didn’t care
You were not bacterial
You were not frozen water in winter
You were not a hairbrush broken by hair
You were a treasure of gold in the world-toilet
For you appraised the world of grains
And flung the earth to the earth
The good wine is mixed with the bad wine,
come to the wine jar’s lips and let’s unmix it
Poor people only have one soul
but you and I have two
let’s go on vacation to Mexico or Rome
Everybody returns home
How should old people associate with young people?
Shut up—Be like a compass. The King
has erased your name from the book of speech
Brandon Brown, "The Persians by Archilochos" from The Persians By Aeschylus, published by Displaced Press. Copyright © 2011 by Brandon Brown. Reprinted by permission of Brandon Brown.
Source:
The Persians by Aeschylus
(Displaced Press, 2011)
