Poetry Friday: Ulysses

I read Garrison Keillor's 77 Love Sonnets last summer, and enjoyed the book immensely. Garrison Keillor does so much through his Writer's Almanac to disseminate great poetry, new and old, and I've enjoyed his anthologies, also. It was fun to read his own poetry. Here's a favorite, dealing with Ulysses and Penelope, whose story I love.

Ulysses

Here by the enormous swimming pool at the Biltmore
Twenty-six young dark-skinned women lie
In tiny bikinis like mermaids on the shore,
And I, bound for Ithaca, just sail on by,
Heading for you, Penelope, to tell the tale,
How that whole Trojan War gave me the willies,
The pointlessness of it, and I set sail,
Having paid off Homer and left Achilles
In his tent, and was lucky to get a favorable wind
And stopped here at the Biltmore to recompute
My course, and found twenty-six dark-skinned
Women, their breasts displayed like fresh fruit.
Thanks but no thanks.  They only want a tan.
You, dear, love a good story.  I'm your man.

Garrison Keillor


Here's more on Penelope from past Poetry Fridays.

And here's today's roundup.