The War to Extend All Wars

Because you birthed that crazy

Daughter, because you are the

Parent of this deadly child,

War complains to Father Zeus

In Wilson’s new translation,

Of the Iliad, asking,

As all the gods are asking,

Help in counterbalancing

The acts of the other gods.

If there’s an unintended

Message in that massive poem

Of back-and-forth gore, it’s that

Balance enhances bloodshed,

That equally matched forces

Are horror multipliers.

With Strategy on one side,

Flashing her commanding eyes,

And Havoc on the other,

Each pleading with their father

That it’s unfair to support

The sister or the brother,

Carnage can be maximized

And suffering extended.

Or maybe the poet meant

That message--if you can’t be

Victorious instantly,

Pray for the swiftest defeat.

In the high country each fall,

Bucks with the worst injuries

Met the most evenly matched.