"Elpenor" by Chelsea Castonguay

I have no words of sympathy for

the youth Elpenor

who found himself intoxicated

and on the glistening roof, staring at the stars

and wondering about the universe

and the ever-seeing immortal gods

Who was watching out for him

the night he consumed the sparkling wine

and climbed onto Circe’s polished roof,

smooth as a shell on Cyprus’ sandy beach,

his feet sliding on its shiny surface,

that alone should have warned him

No one was watching out for him

because they thought he understood the

precious gift of mortality bestowed upon him.

In the morning, when the stars had faded and

the clouds inside his head had scuttled away

like crabs after a good feeding,

he heard the bustle of the men he thought his friends

but did they care about the child they let climb

the ladder?

He heard their voices and leapt to his feet, anxious

to be among them again

In his haste, his feet slipped on Circe’s polished roof

aided by the wine and meat he had lost the night before

and he fell headlong off the roof and in seconds had

fallen into the dust, crumpling at the feet of the men

who understood their mortality and had been able to

hold their wine better.