After Visiting Mycenae
King Agamemnon’s tomb was cool as thought,
a shaded haven gouged in mountain, bored
within Mycenae’s pocked and sun-scorched skull.
That brilliant dreamer Schliemann got it wrong,
however: neither palace, tomb, nor mask
belonged to Clytemnestra’s husband, so
our local guide explained. She then curtailed
the tour because of triple-digit heat.
Now, drinking Mythos lager in an air-
conditioned room, I’m excavating words
and actions: much of life’s misread. But fact
is just a tool that etches, sculpts, or dulls
realities that we ourselves create.
That tourist ouzo that I bought today:
the bottle has Apollo’s Attic shape.
Thomas Zimmerman teaches English, directs the Writing Center, and edits
two literary magazines at Washtenaw Community College, in Ann Arbor, MI.
His poems have appeared recently in The Meadowland Review and Big River Poetry Review. His chapbook In Stereo is forthcoming from The Camel Saloon Books on Blog.
