“I always feel a more than human dread
over what names to use for the gods- it surpasses
the greatest fear. So now I address Aphrodite
by whatever title pleases her.”
–Socrates in Plato’s, Philebus.
Olympus is on fire!
The hot heart of Hephaestus
is hammered with grief-
as Aphrodite retires
to her perfumed palace
he labors below
with the lost
and the least.
Jagged with jealousy
as malice is forged
in his cavernous heart
which beats to the anvil
of iron clanging
and sparks
leap from his furrowed brow
like a furnace!
Misshapen is his fate-
not unlike the ridges
on his back,
for he seems doomed
to be a lover
of that
which he can never purchase
with kisses.
So with furious blows
of his hammer,
he forms fetters
strong enough to shackle
her titanic ambition.
And all scorned lovers
and gods can bear witness
to the hot heart of Hephaestus
that sets fire
to Olympus!
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