Olympia
My favorite bas-relief: Athene showing
Heracles where to broach the riverbank
With a nod of her high helmet, her staff sunk
In the exact spot, the Alpheus flowingOut of its course into the deep dung strata
Of King Augeas’ reeking yard and stables.
Sweet dissolutions from the water tables,
Blocked doors and packed floors deluging like gutters…And it was there in Olympia, down among green willows,
The lustral wash and run of river shallows,
That we heard of Sean Brown’s murder in the grounds
Of Bellaghy G.A.A. Club. And imagined
Hosewater smashing hard back off the asphalt
In the car park where his athlete’s blood ran cold.Seamus Heaney, The Augean Stables
[x]#726 fan zaterdag 14 augustus 2004 @ 18:33:14