"Calypso composed herself and went to Odysseus,
Zeus' message still ringing in her ears.
She found him sitting where the breakers rolled in.
His eyes were perpetually wet with tears now,
His life draining away in homesickness.
The nymph had long since ceased to please.
He still slept with her at night in her cavern,
An unwilling lover mated to her eager embrace.
Days he spent sitting on the rocks by the breakers,
Staring out to sea with hollow, salt-rimmed eyes."
-Odyssey, Book 5
"I loved him, I took care of him, I even told him
I'd make him immortal and ageless all his days."
-Calypso
Calypso
R.S. Gwynn
I've tried it all--ordered instruction manuals
And tapes shipped overnight in plain brown wrapping,
Acquired an interest in springer spaniels,
And never once disturbed him while he's napping.
I've tightened fanbelts, handled power tools,
Argued to go for it instead of punting,
Fluttered a fly-line in a mountain pool,
And even gone--Artemis, spar me!--hunting.
I've watched Three Stooges marathons till dawn
And shopped at Frederick's for something filly.
He never notices what I've go on
Or what I don't have on. I feel so silly
But try to help. He eyes me like I'm daft
And lashes one more timber to his raft.