Learned Eremite Poem by ENOCH JOHN

like kites
emotions rise

to choke
at his heart strings, enveloping

him with a veil-like sheath of melancholy.

masked

from the outside chords of chaos, phrases
from the Homeric oeuvre,

refresh his mind with
memory,
blotting out forever

the winds of nihilism blowing
with natural fervour and

like a learned Eremite
pondering over his books,

he waits
in silent knowledge

until
strength rises within his breast

like the Towers of Ilium.

Like Ulysses,
he'll ride his ship

over the distant, bulging deep

his craft

sailing on the rough seas of knowledge,

its sails
filled with

the billowing winds
of learning.