.hephaestus Poem by Cretan Maineiac

.hephaestus

Rating: 5.0


(Inspired by 'The God of Impertinence' by Sten Nadolny)

How that fire warms, forged
tools comfort, enable,
utile as physics, reason, & the average man Diogenes

never sought, bulwark against child-based instruction,
as if molecules &
viruses perform for the naked eye. Reason, reduced to

refutation of old testimonials, Jesus speciously
aligned w/
unfiltered wrath. Hephaestus's utility, salvation- tho

no one invokes his name after stubbing his toe or
sees him (or his mother)
in pancakes- forges ahead of Momus of ridicule &

handsome Dionysius w/ weapons of
mass deception &
instruments quantifying Vanity and the

striven after Wind, the club-footed deity thru
whom Lucifer found
Edison's third ear, inspiring sweat- such

medicine-
*pharmakon*-
girding one last-
ditch defense against
all threat of prophesied second act or profit-

less sequel, morality and mortality gold-plated-
out in
deference to a baseless-yet-somehow-higher

moral ground, embracing gratuitous
upgrades, trivializing
momentum, obscuring & out-

sourcing memory, the Fire that
warms, burns, melts & molds for
Hephaestus, father of

Pandora, w/ Faith that only the warmth will intrude.

COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Ewigi Liebe 09 January 2008

There has always been a need for heroes in society, perhaps now as never before to balance the general worship of technology. A hero, according to German author Sten Nadolny, is an ill-fated individuai with character, - 'ein Pechvogel mit Charakter' - and one of Nadolny's many aims in his novels is to fül this deficit. But Nadolny recognizes that in this multifarious world, one hero will not do.in Greek mythology, is the Olympian god of boundaries and of the travelers who cross them, of shepherds and cowherds, of orators and wit, of literature and poets, of athletics, of weights and measures and invention and commerce in general, and of the cunning of thieves and liars.[1] The Homeric hymn to Hermes invokes him as the one 'of many shifts, blandly cunning, a robber, a cattle driver, a bringer of dreams, a watcher by night, a thief at the gates, one who was soon to show forth wonderful deeds among the deathless gods.'My Husband like science fiction..and I know Sten..cause he has all book of him..nice one thou...thank you for sharing

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Alison Cassidy 08 January 2008

I have not read the book on which this poem is based, but its title 'the God of Impertinence' would suggest something of parody - Hephaestus in the twenty first century perhaps? Your poem is certainly intriguing. A fascinating collection of ages, images, and ideas involving the metallic and the fiery and the outrageous. A confronting poem. love, Allie ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

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