Odysseus Poem by Justin Reamer

They call me wily Odysseus,
King of Ithaca,
The great Cyclops, I did slay,
Survivor of Scylla and Charybdis,
The Trojan War, I did fight,
And the Trojan Horse, I did build,
Lover of beautiful Penelope,
And friend of the great Achilles,
Slayer of great Priam,
Compatriot of Menelaus,
Lover of Circe and Calypso,
Aided by Athena herself,
I am Odysseus, the great,
The strong, the powerful.
Adventurer, am I,
And legend, I am.

Many years have passed
Since ended the Trojan War,
Many years gone by
Since I made my way home.
But now people see me,
Know only of me,
Knowing only my name,
And knowing little of my fame.
An old man, am I,
Decrepit and dull,
Nowhere to go,
Languid of politics and governance,
Desiring to move onward
And explore the great world.
Meant to be a king, I am not;
Order is all folly to me;
To go on the ocean,
To explore the horizon,
To navigate the unknown,
That is my dream, my purpose.

Fit to be a king, I am not,
But ‘tis fit for someone else.
Leave the politics to my son, Telemachus,
For order is his strong suit,
I will vouchsafe for it.
The tidings of the kingdom are his domain,
For order and bureaucracy are his skills,
So the kingdom of Ithaca,
I leave to him,
For he knows more than I.

But as for me,
I am headed for open sea,
Bound for the horizon to see
What lies ahead,
For life is filled with horizons,
An interminable journey ahead,
For Dawn shall rise morning next,
And shall rise with the tides of time.
There will always be new horizons to explore,
New adventures to seek,
To know the world,
And to mount Olympus,
That is my destiny.

Fear not, Telemachus,
Fear not for me,
For the world is my domain,
And adventure is my calling.
I shall always be out in the wild,
Exploring the great frontier;
But take heart and pride
For your father with no fear,
For his courage took him places
And shall always live on.

Oh, my dearest Penelope,
Worry not for my well-being;
Mourn not my decision,
For even this gallant heart
May be tamed to love
Such a beautiful maiden as you.
But worry not for me,
For rest assured, you will
Always be in my memories,
My beloved queen,
My beautiful princess,
My devoted wife,
For loyal you always were to me,
Faithful I shall always be to you,
Remembering you in my heart.

But onward, I must go,
And adventure, I must seek,
For the world is my calling,
And the world I shall seek.
Never to linger, never to stall,
Forward and onward, go I shall.