Vox Populi
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Sally Bliumis-Dunn: The Cypress and the Stag
SIGHTSEEING
No marble ruins, not a single column stood
where our guide was pointing,
just dull sere hills along the highway.
See that knoll to our left? That’s where Oedipus
solved the riddle of the Sphinx!
And then the air could barely hold us
and the three of us in the heavy car on the hard asphalt road
were the ones who seemed out of place in time
and I could nearly see the Sphinx,
lion paws outstretched, thick wings folded to its flanks
as it stared Oedipus down. We are very near to Thebes,
she added, as if we needed proof.
~~~
MELAMPUS
Melampus gave the mother snake he found
a human burial beneath the sacred oak
and reared the two little orphaned snakes.
who licked his ears so clean while he slept
that afterwards he could understand
the language of all animals, especially bird song,
closer to the lyre’s notes; he understood
the great boar’s grunting, all manner of buzzes
and whirrs, even the termites’ antennae tapping
and the dolphin’s cries at sea.
How rare that mercy bears any gift at all.
And the snakes with their brilled eyes
and hungry tongues who could clear
from Melampus’ ears whatever barrier humans
have of listening to the natural world.
~~~
THE CAVE WHERE ZEUS WAS RAISED BY A GOAT
Near the upper lip of the cave,
bats dip and flail like kites.
I am at first unable to make them out
in all the semidarkness.
Their frenzied fluttering frightens me
as though I were hearing relics
of an ancient voice—
air sliding over vocal chords,
stripped of words, though
I sense their rhythms in strangely
recognizable patterns.
You lay the copper drachma you’d found
that shone like a bright wide-open eye
on a small rock ledge that we discover,
but easily could have missed,
that holds other apparent offerings:
sheep skull, feather, two lemons,
leaves of arum and sage.
~~~
THE CYPRESS AND THE STAG
Now it all makes sense:
the roots of the cypress tree
to hold the boy’s sorrow in place—
the shape of the tree, like someone
slender, tall, arms at his sides
done with reaching to the sky or plain.
When by mistake, Cyparissus
slew his beloved
stag, he wanted to mourn forever,
so Apollo, with mercy, changed
him into the cypress tree
with tears of sap along the trunk.
Before I learned the story,
these trees haunted me.
No wonder they started to look
like shadows cast,
that had slipped free of people
who were standing, and then lifted
from the ground.
~~~~
Copyright 2026 Sally Bliumis-Dunn
Sally Bliumis-Dunn says that the poems published here arose out of a twentieth anniversary trip to Greece last fall. Her books include Talking Underwater, Second Skin, Galapagos Poems and Echolocation.
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“the three of us in the heavy car on the hard asphalt road
were the ones who seemed out of place in time”.
I have felt that in a dark Buddhist temple in Tibet? Nepal? In mounds in Ireland. In cave dwellings in Colorado. At the wailing wall.
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As have I. To be in the presence of ancient temples and shrines is soul-shaking.
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Thank you, Barbara. It really is a particular strange feeling. Amazing to know it can be shared!
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Particularly like Melampus. What a different, better world we would live in if we all would listen to and cherish what nature has to tell us.
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Yes.
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I remember carrying my “adult book” of myths with me, probably 5th or 6th grade, and still love to read and reread them. A student in my first MFA class was writing a book length poem based on mythology that was unlike others and I eagerly awaited class to hear them. Today I have come to the conclusion that I cannot continue my beloved MFA classes because the remaining ones require memorization and I have lost that ability since the stroke. VP and my books will remain my lifeline and I may try to find a way to publish poems and the memoir which includes them. Thank you, Michael, for this dear community that enriches my life daily and gives me some hope as I watch what is happening to my grandchildren’s world.
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You are an important member of our VP community, Barb. I look forward to your comments each day!
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I keep meaning to send you things. If Sally Bliumis is Sarah Bliumis, she contributede translations to a Zephyr anthology years ago.
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Yes. In another life, I was a Russian trnslator.
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Wonderful! I will return to these. And share them with friends. Thank you!
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Thanks, Richard.
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I love these. They remind me why I need poetry.
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I love these. They remind me why I need poetry.
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Yes!
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And thank you especially, Michael for all you do for poetry and your huge kind heart.
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thank you!
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You are all so kind and made my day! I have loved these myths since the kids were small and we read them together.
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Thanks for sharing these well-crafted versions of the myths.
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I had the same thought as Hayden–grateful to begin my day with these poems.
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Yes!
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The magic of bringing old legends to life. And the awe they bring: “[…] clear / from Melampus’ ears whatever barrier humans / have of listening to the natural world.”
Terrific poems.
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“How rare that mercy bears any gift at all…” Grateful to begin my day with these.
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Sally is great, isn’t she. I always come away from her poems feeling that she’s shown me a part of the world I’ve never known about.
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