Odyssey (Continued)

by Veronica Schanoes

8) Ithaca

"Odysseus, meanwhile,
Awoke from sleep in his ancestral land—
And did not recognize it. He had been gone so long,
 . . .So everything on Ithaca now looked different . . ."

13.194—6, 202

You have been gone so long

and nothing in New York looks different.

but when I walk them

I feel like a ghost.

Yes  oh  yes  I  see

where the cafes used to be

where your apartment used to be

where we used to be

years bleeding into years

There are roaches here,

barely beneath the surface.

There is the summer stink here,

and I am still here.

We were the blood on the tracks

in the veins of rapid transit

and so I come home

always come home

to this city of creation and conflagration

falling masonry and falling bodies and

beautiful soaring spires.

9) Odysseus and Penelope

And what did Odysseus,

who had borne much pain,

say to Penelope?

And what did Penelope,

who had wept away the lonely days and nights

say to Odysseus?

You hard rover

You mysterious woman

You wily bastard

You cunning, elusive liar

My heart has been cold with fear

Land is a welcome sight to men swimming for their lives

You are a mystery to me

We’ve had our fill of trials now.

Wait for me, my dear, and in time

I will tell you everything

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