Ode To Sisyphus
Ode To Sisyphus
You might call it déjà vu.
Call it what you want to.
Is it against my will,
Pushing this boulder up this hill?
It seems like I just did this.
But my mind says, “don’t you wish!”
I’ll just push it up until I get to the top.
But something tells me I can never stop.
You know I had a degree in arrogance.
I could devastate and destroy with nonchalance.
I was sly and I was shy,
Then I could poke you in the eye.
I was merely crafty and mischievous.
I prefer that to avaricious.
Some say I was not hospitable.
Some even say despicable.
I only killed travelers and guests!
With my niece, I had a little incest!
What can I say? I’m a rolling stone!
I even took my brother’s throne.
This rolling stone gathers no moss.
And I have no idea whom is the boss.
Is knowledge the struggle I should not pursue?
You think I know too much says you!
I was the king of my domain!
I remember something about Zeus.
Did I dream I had Death chained?
And did Zeus turn him Loose?
I don’t know
But I have to go.
I have to rewind my soul.
This rock I have to roll!
Just up to the top. Before the setting sun.
There we go. I guess I’m done.
Wow! It’s morning again!
I guess it’s time to begin.
I’ll have to push that rock today.
There is one thing that I might say,
My life isn’t always a bed of flowers,
But at least I get to set my own hours!
By Micky Dee
Sisyphus - the real struggle
Greek mythology says that Sisyphus was pretty naughty guy with all the killing and what-not. Sisyphus seduced his niece, took his brother's throne, and betrayed Zeus.
Zeus had his henchman, Thanatos, to chain Sisyphus in Tartarus. This Tartarus is a deep, gloomy place, a pit, or an abyss. It’s used as a dungeon of torment and suffering that resides beneath the underworld (like Washington, DC).
Sisyphus was evidently a wizard (perhaps like our modern day lawyers). Sisyphus tricked Thanatos into demonstrating how the chains worked. When Thanatos did, Sisyphus secured them and talked a bunch of trash. Thanatos was Dr. Death! Death was suspended!
Now they were having battles. People were being carved up into too many pieces to count. Then- these pieces would get themselves together by dinner time and would be watching soccer with some mead on tap.
This hardly made war fun anymore.
So Ares, a hot head I’m told, was a little chafed. He jumped in and set Dr. Death loose. Dr. Death, Thanatos, took Sisyphus to Tartarus (spooky hole in the ground).
You would think this would be the end- but noooo!
Before Sisyphus died, he told his wife that if she really loved him, she would throw his nekkid body into the street. Now, get this, He tells Persephone,Queen of the Underworld, that his wife was dissing him. Sisyphus talks Persephone into allowing him to go back to the upper world and scold his wife for not giving him his props by burying the body.
Can you believe this? And Persephone goes for it! She let
him go! How did she get to be Queen of the Underworld?
She must be like our judges and politicians. They say they’re tough on crime and they wind up letting the guilty go and they lock some good people up! So what do you think happens now? Back in old Corinth, Sisyphus says he ain’t going back to the underworld. I guess this was a big surprise to Persephone. Hey Persephone! A blind man could see that coming!
Sisyphus had to be forcibly dragged back by Hermes. Like Hermes didn’t have enough to do!
Dig this: Hermes was the great messenger of the gods in Greek mythology. He was additionally a guide to the Underworld. Hermes also served as a psycho-pomp (not psycho-pimp). That’s being an escort for the dead. You know, he helps them find their way to the afterlife (the Underworld). Hermes was the only god besides Hades, Persephone, Hecate, and Thanatos who could enter and leave the Underworld without hindrance. He protects and takes care of all the travelers, miscreants, harlots, old crones and thieves that pray to him or cross his path. So, no matter what you do- give him his props and he’ll take care of everything.
Hermes was athletic and always looking out for runners, or any athletes with injuries who need his help. So I guess he’s like a personal trainer as well.
Hermes was a messenger from the gods to humans (like a Hollywood agent or something). Hermes delivered messages from Olympus to the mortal world. He wears shoes with wings on them and uses them to fly freely between the mortal and immortal world (the shoes have little lights that flicker when he walks).
Hermes invented fire (probably in the kitchen one day)! He’s parallel to the Titan, Prometheus (whoever they are). Hermes invented the lyre. No the “liar” was around for along time. The lyre was a lot like the guitar. I think we can say that this was, in a sense, inventing the guitar! Rock on Hermes! Hermes is given credit for inventing many types of racing and the sports of wrestling and boxing. Therefore he was a patron of athletes (like Vince Lombardy and Red Auerbach). It seems like there were a lot of couch potatoes before Hermes came along. I mean, come on! Inventing “types of racing”? Like office chair racing? Boxing? I’m not sure you have to ever create boxing. You can perfect it as possible but people come out swinging today. Wrestling? With ideas maybe.
Anyway!
The gods were miffed at the trickery of Sisyphus (and their own stupidity, no doubt). For eternity (or at least time as in an election year), Sisyphus was made to roll a boulder up a steep hill, but before he could reach the top of the hill, the rock would always roll back down, forcing him to begin again (very much like voting actually). This monotonous craziness of a punishment was especially reserved for Sisyphus due to his making Zeus feel like a chump.
By Micky Dee
Sisyphus
You know I saw Sisyphus today!
Oh did you now? What did he have to say?
He was still going higher and starting lower.
He was cursing and pushing some thing he called a "frickin’ lawn mower"!
Sisyphus: The Early Years
More Poems By Micky Dee!
Clothes Make The Man-I'm A Fraud!
God, Thank You For Bringing Our Soldier Home!
I Sit Here In My Lonely Room
What Really Made You Cry?
Remembering The Past And Missing You
Labels Are Fables! Trashin' Fashion!
Romance Noir
Micky Dee, His Bike, Don Quixote, and Points of Light
Parallel Parking At Eighty Miles An Hour
Check out Sisyphus's
Struggle by Petra!
