The Ides
Beware this day.
On this day, halfway point,
the pointlessness of turning back
will be stark and unavoidable.
The moon's light
will be beautiful, cold, and merciless;
so bright that you can't
keep yourself from reading the signs.
And though you sit
protectively
pulling your knees to your chest
in a quest for smallness, stillness,
your drumming heart
will rock you
leaving you no choice
but to be aware.
(Thanks to the women of Poetry Thursday
for their continuing inspiration.
The ides have been a part of my language
since Julius Caesar, but I never knew
what they really meant. The image above of the moon
is how it will appear tonight, not as it would have appeared (full)
under the old Roman calendar.)
for their continuing inspiration.
The ides have been a part of my language
since Julius Caesar, but I never knew
what they really meant. The image above of the moon
is how it will appear tonight, not as it would have appeared (full)
under the old Roman calendar.)
Bonus poetry: here are some lines that I have loved for over half my life (Julius Caesar, Act I, Scene II):
BRUTUS
Cassius,
Be not deceived: if I have veil'd my look,
I turn the trouble of my countenance
Merely upon myself. Vexed I am
Of late with passions of some difference,
Conceptions only proper to myself,
Which give some soil perhaps to my behaviors;
But let not therefore my good friends be grieved--
Among which number, Cassius, be you one--
Nor construe any further my neglect,
Than that poor Brutus, with himself at war,
Forgets the shows of love to other men.
BRUTUS
Cassius,
Be not deceived: if I have veil'd my look,
I turn the trouble of my countenance
Merely upon myself. Vexed I am
Of late with passions of some difference,
Conceptions only proper to myself,
Which give some soil perhaps to my behaviors;
But let not therefore my good friends be grieved--
Among which number, Cassius, be you one--
Nor construe any further my neglect,
Than that poor Brutus, with himself at war,
Forgets the shows of love to other men.
5 comments:
The Ides: beautiful.
Thanks for this post. For introducing me to such beautiful lines.
gautami
Aphasia
Shelley- now I really know what is meant by the Ides of March- fascinating!
Oh, how I love Shakespeare...
thank you for these beautiful lines- and for yours!
Wow. I really enjoyed your poem about the Ides of March. I told my students (6th graders) all day about it. It probably sounded like one of those "bloody mary" kind of stories.
Thanks, too, for the JC lines. Beautiful. No wonder I'm a freak over Shakespeare.
A wonderful play! My favorite line is in the famous speech by Mark Antony "The evil that men do lives after them; The good is oft interrèd with their bones’! Very sobering, all around.
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