The Ancient Gods And Their Lives And Tales Poem by Emmanuel George Cefai

The ancient gods and their lives and tales
We keep, recount, remember fondly
Not in any religious sense necessarily.
Rarely these ancient gods are to horror kin
Mostly aften are beauty upon beauty.
Hence we keep them and fondly speak
Of them and oft remember them.
As if they were with us
As if they lived with us
For even if they of horror be
There's beauty in that too
In all the seasons we feel them
They should not be marked with time,
The foot-prints of beginning or end
But serenely in their ambience
Time passes yes, as if it passes not.
Thus we of beauty speak and immediate
Our response to Venus and her world,
Environment eminent of beauty.
From there we go to Mars the war-lord
One to the other leads.
Thus, though less than before
We still live in the pleasure of their company
And honour feel in this and nobleness
Not in religious tones necessarily
In ancient times the gods, the poets and
The people were as in a community.
Community enviable! For where was war
In such a community?
And ways of living such that in many
Cases no or little need for Laws was there
Laws were writ in lesser detail
And yet witness Solon and witness
Hammurabi and his honourable laws
In a few lines and verses
They wrote what was sufficient
For us in text upon text.
We yearn thus for the breath of these gods
Not to command us or us to adore them
But to revert to those sacred ways.
Respect.