Without Effort Poem by Daniel Brick

Of all my poems, this one gives me a genuine sense of satisfaction. It derives from mythology, which means it takes both writer and reader
back to mythology, or more precisely, gives them a mythic awareness. According to Joseph Campbell in OCCIDENTAL MYTHOLOGY, the mythic awareness involves the 'Night Sea Journey, ' which plays out literally in Book 13. The Phaeacian ship actually takes the sleeping Odysseus back to Ithaca and put him on his native land - without waking him! It's a curious decision on their part: when he wakes up, he's bewildered, until Athena joins him and clarifies things. But this curious story has given psychologists and mythographers a brilliant example of the concept of the 'Night Sea Journey.' This is a usually traumatic psychological experience in which a patient goes through a
profound interior transformation, which begins, perhaps completes her/
his healing process. The imagery of 'night' and 'sea journey' show that this stage of recovery is dark, frightening, isolating. It could, of course, lead to deeper psychic pain, without the compassionate help of mental health professionals and loving friends.
However, once the patient completes this ' night sea journey, ' s/he
passes under the threshold of recovery. In Homer's plot, this is the
hero's homecoming, his arrival finally in Ithaca. I wrote this poem the way Homer wrote his epic, without explaining the psychological dimensions of the story. The narrative details are sufficient; the
reader can interpret them. And Homer himself - whoever he was -
deserves to be called the Father of Western Poetry. He lived at the end of a Mythological Age; he did not have to interpret myths the way we do: his life embodied the myths, and he lived a mythological life.
Someday I hope to write a parallel poem derived from the ILIAD, or perhaps, dear reader, you can write that poem, and I will read it with delight and wisdom at the site of your poems! 58