Parthenon Pediment Pathos

Old as the hills,

THE PARTHENON

(capitalized of course!)

sits atop a mighty hill,

having protected Athens

for ages and eras.

The Temple,
occupied since 1450
was destroyed.
The Ottoman Empire,
in Athens, in 1824,
having stored the gunpowder
inside the temple,
to feed the weapons,
which defended territory,
were defeated this way:

Venetian mercenaries
bombed the storage magazine,
thus leaving the Parthenon in ruins.

Lord Byron, (17cth c.)
poet and lover of Greece:
General Morosini further damaged the building
attempting to take plunder,
bombing the great pediment.
“Heard some curious extracts from the life of Morosini...",
wrote Byron, "...the blundering Venetian,
who blew up the Acropolis of Athens...
...and be damned to him!”

It stands a ruin,
though continuing to awe
the modern pilgrims who come to sigh,
astounded, eyes wide,
jaws dropping.

Doesn't fighting just ruin everything?
We, in this so called enlightened time in history,
are like the Turks, like Al Qqueda.
(I don't care how it's spelled!),
Like the Soviet Union,
China, Lebanon,
like we Americans,
the richest, most learned nation in history;
we continue sending boys
(and now girls!)
to play soldiers "for reals!"

Once a little boy,
pretending to wrestle,
was surprised!
With hurt feeling he cries to his friend,
"Hey, you're hurting me for reals!!"

Now, the ridiculous, infantile juveniles in office
send real men scrambling around,
carrying real weapons
killing, maiming, shocking.
And our leaders accomplish what?

I hear them saying a final push will settle the region.
Then I hear in my head, my old dad,
speaking during the Vietnam war,
"They've been fighting for thousands of years,
why do we suppose they will stop now?"
I resented that resigned attitude!
I wished for soldiers to come home.

Unhappy understanding comes with age.
Hopelessness.

Please, fanatical President,
please give it up.
Please send them home.