| Muses Review - Poetry Fall 2005 |
| Gary Lehmann's poetry |
------------------------------------------ Lord Byron Takes a Swim by Gary Lehmann Source: Public Lives & Private Secrets, 2005, p.33 Shelley's drowning was terrible enough, but his cremation on the beach was unbearable. Soldiers split his skull with a spade digging the body out of the sand. His skin was chalky gray from the quicklime. The water-soaked corpse took hours to burn. The fire was very hot and slow. Children gathered from the town to watch. Byron was on edge because he knew that Shelley had dared the storm only to taunt him. He refused to be guided by good sense. Had he drowned himself just for spite? Then Shelley's skull split open and the brains ran out into the upturned skull plate dancing and boiling in the fire. Byron could endure no more. He stripped his clothes and swam into the sea. If only he had refused stupid competitions. Shelley's small boat was too fragile for storms. Lord Byron swam for miles, all alone. As the cold began to inhabit his chest, he wondered if he had the courage to drown. Did he deserve to live now that Shelley had found such a heroic end to life? Byron turned back toward shore. More wood was being added to the fire. Everyone was bored with burning dead poets. Lord Byron emerged from a heartless sea. --------------------------------------------- Copyright (c) by Gary Lehmann. All rights reserved. ------------------------------------------------- The poem is published with permission from Gary Lehmann. -------------------------------------------------- Editor's Rating: 5 laurels out of 5 laurels. ------------------------------------------------------ This poem is nominated "Best Poem of Year 2005 for 2nd Muses Prize - Poetry". ---------------------------------------------------- |
| Gary Lehmann - Poet based in New York |
| Buy this book at: www.musesreview.org/garylehmann.html or at www.musesreview.org/bookstore.html |
Buy: Gary Lehmann's poetrybook at www.musesreview.org/garylehmann.html |
| To input in textbox, make sure pointer is near the question mark (?): |
 |
 |
