Reaching for Odessa
The Complete Poem
A Work in Progress
78
1
Shades of Ezra Pound admirer of Catullus
on a voyage outbound a strong wind bending the mast
main sail reefed jib rolled to a sliver
driving our craft forward
through over swelling seas boiling with danger
reaching for Odessa
our mission to slay the minotaur
that murderous thug molesting the city
no longer in a labyrinth at large with an army
intent on conquering all of Ukraine
dead poets channel at Donal’s elbow
holding course with the tiller strapped to his chest
all of them Argonauts
and Li Po urges him to bring in more wine
put music in his lines as Ezra asked
Briggflats responded
Prévert has a headache
when Donal taps the metal mast
cadences cadenza through his head
coins clattering on countertops
urban imagery unlike Merwin always faraway
inhabiting places where the muses still live
among tall trees clean water woodlands still green
a strong wind propels a long reach over open sea
out of sight invisible stealthily approaching
reaching for Odessa determinedly
2
Donal steered upwind fighting the sea surge
a curtain of rain shrouding the forecastle
when calmer waters were found in an island’s lee
where suddenly the wind swung aft
drove his craft ashore through a narrow channel
onto a sandy beach between imposing cliffs
entering a cove with quiet anchorage
where the punch of the wind had placed them
no island like this was on the charts
were they alive? had they crossed into legend?
sheltered from the storm
what was this haven where a warm breeze ruffled
clear blue water glowing with light
dark sky overhead
firmly beached
keel implanted in sand
Donal went ashore
plentiful driftwood available for a fire
made in a stone hearth already in place
and an altar strewn with bones
for sacrifice
gathered around that hearth they lit a fire
with sparks from flints on dry wood shavings
igniting salt-stained kindling to make a blaze
piled high with wooden seashore detritus
flames leaping high in the gathering dark
watching and waiting for what would come next
there was a path they could see from the beach
leading up through bushes into evergreen trees
a well-trodden path they did not dare
for they could see footprints there in the sand
a female foot they feared as much as a giant
if not Polyphemus who but Calypso or Circe
how else to explain what was happening
if this island existed
they were far off course
on their way to Odessa
they’d encountered brute force
Donal stood guard having taken the watch
cheerful if apprehensive
they were safe because magic had brought them here
they would need magic and more to slay the minotaur
3
Donal stood guard his back to the boat
watching the approaches to the sandy beach
only to find on hearing noise in the rigging
sails unfurling as the craft made way
leaving the cove blown by a whipped-up wind
he’d been abandoned standing in moonlight
alone on the beach in sudden silence
wake waves slapping the sandy shore
Donal gazed at the moon in the azure water
thinking an omen his shadow slanted
meeting a full moon’s reflection in the cove
backlit by the moon he saw his dead brother
come into the light his mother his father
his grandfather too whom Donal never knew
dressed in the uniform he wore in that war
against another generation’s minotaur
he saw they were smiling as if in a photo
he hoped they looked proud of him
he thought they did for they faded away
a cloud was passing the moon was shaded
he turned to find those footprints explained
barefoot clad in a peplos her hair falling free
Aphrodite? coming down the path to confront him
to ask him what once was unanswered
why did you come? what brings you here?
dumbfounded he knew he’d bare his soul
to this white clad goddess
an owlet on her wrist
a raven on her shoulder
a spirit mother of the muses?
Mnemosyne?
she spoke a language he thought was Greek
but her meaning was clear and her questioning deep
as the moon set over the enchanted hill
4
Her questions were rhetorical
she answered them herself
he heard her speaking Greek
which he suddenly understood
Strophe antistrophe
she questioned then answered
explaining with an epode
hooting in his mind
An owlet and a raven
a snake coiled around her waist
she put him to the test
told him he’d have no rest
Dark matter matters
separates life from death
dark matter moves us
in ways she would not tell
When your brain expands you touch it
its dark matter makes you tough it
trips you when you fall
ignores you when you call
What’s that about a minotaur?
tyrants rise and fall
shunned by all
You won’t find him in Odessa
go no further on your quest
you have an education
that’s why you feel oppressed
leave this island with my blessing
do not return the raven croaked
do not, do not
There were footprints in the sand
where she had stood
walked from him into the dark
come daylight he’d build a raft from wood
now that he understood
Inspired to make a raft from driftwood planks
tied with rope he found on the beach
he paddled away from the island into the open sea
trusting that just as in mythology
he’d find safe harbor
instead, he found the craft he’d steered
at anchor awaiting a crew…
5
He’d clambered on deck of the small sailboat
tethered the raft he’d made
shook off fair warning from the gods
found a following wind like a trade
making the shrouds shriek
urging him on to Odessa
which God it was had held him in her thrall
had treated his motive with derision
how many greater warriors had she seen
than he, liars braggarts bigots all
a following wind dispelled indecision
he steered for what might be not what might have been
what might be might not be epic
no shore in sight uncharted waters
going where the wind directed
all unrehearsed destination unspecific
always onward and if the wind falters
he’ll lie becalmed his thoughts uninterrupted
he ran before the gale not thinking just sailing
watching for dangers scanning the sea
knowing it safer to ride out the storm
than risk breaking the tiller by turning
upwind he was a Viking by ancestry
he’d let this wind let his future form
this wind he knew was a gift from the gods
to slay a minotaur first he must find it
a modern version operating everywhere
no longer human not even half, a demigod
supply chain of explosives, engines, rockets
profitable attrition all going nowhere
6
You must love words how they sound what they say
How they make life meaningful everyday
How relationships start when words entangle
Enclose two people in an unseen bangle
That loops from eye to mind and mind to eye
Biochemistry making one laugh or cry
Words can do whatever words say cannot be done
Digitized their meaning becomes an impression
Meaning maybe more or less what was meant when said
Interpreted by algorithms that when all done
Ascribe a weight to words before compression
Fed to streaming feeds that are widely read
As all Rome knows words get away with murder
Nobody believes the truth anymore
A design of despots or just how it is?
Democracy dismantled girder by girder
Caesar reinterpreting all rules of law
No Cato to stand between us and the abyss
Words cannot express as the saying goes
How incomprehensible collective fear is
Caesar’s ambition is endless his ego’s exploding
He’s continually testing what damage he’ll do
Will there be someone he’ll say “Et tu” to?
Will words in the Bill of Rights still be adhered to?
7
At dawn awash in real light not electric
after a night becalmed Donal noticed dew drops
sparkling in sunlight in the sailboat’s attic
a metaphor high up in the shroud tops.
A well-positioned web with little hope of flies
a spider’s food supply at risk far from land
but a spider can wait weeks before it dies
while a soldier in a trench must make a last stand.
A spider existing aloft bereft its supply chain
showed Donal the way to slay the minotaur
destroy his supply lines so he’d have to proclaim
some kind of victory to explain the slaughter.
And then his spell broken and with his end near
An uprising makes the minotaur disappear.
So Donal set sail with spider webs glistening
giving him a compass to steer west-northwestward
shouting defiance with no one listening
for he was alone going purposefully forward
Irishly planning programming a master graph
showing nodes and connections of a war machine
allowing discoveries without any math
because visualization lets human eyes key in
to high value targets on a cinema screen
handheld in the field by a wounded warrior
able to guide stealthy weapons in between
defenders attacking without fear or favor.
Reaching for Odessa by a circuitous route
sunshine on his shoulder his mind astute.
Dick Russell © Richard M Russell
2025
