Ithaca

A poem for America

In Homer’s Odyssey the Greek hero Odysseus took 10 years to get home to Ithaca after the brutality of the Trojan War. In his absence his son, Telemachus, had come of age and sailed to Pylos and Sparta for news of his father.

Ithaca 

Before sleep, reading 
to my nine-year-old son, 

he asks about Telemachus,
“Why does Odysseus’

journey to Ithaca begin 
with his son’s journey

to find his father?”
Not knowing 

Homer’s intent, I say simply, 
“Maybe the son has to seek

the father before the father 
can find the son.” 

And we both fall silent 
before I begin reading again. 

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TFP IS A PROUD MEMBER OF THE IOWA WRITERS COLLABORATIVE

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