"hephaestus" poems
As the semester closes,
Exams are stressing our minds.
To help us relax and not stress(as much),
let us pray to the 12 Olympians.
To Athena, grant us the wisdom required.
To Apollo, let our knowledge shine brighter than before.
To Zeus, help our marks swore to the skies.
To Poseidon, don't let our grades fall deep into the seas.
To Demeter, let us take our exam naturally.
To Ares, that we win the *Exam war without* bloodshed.
To Aphrodite, gives us the marks we desire.
To Hephaestus, help us forge perfect study notes.
To Artemis, may our heads be a full moon.
To Dionysus, let our freedom be sweeter than your grapes.
And to Hera ... ... please don't turn me into a peacock for not having a pun for you.
Best of luck to all, may the Olympians help us get through our exams
And may the odds be ever in your favour.
Jun 13, 2014
Jun 13, 2014 at 5:44 PM UTC
Twelve Olympians, to rule as they choose.
Twelve Olympians, we'll start with Zeus.
God of sky, thunder, lightning, law.
Ruled the Olympians with the justice he saw.
Commonly referred to as the Father.
Next is Poseidon, God of Water.
"A tamer of horses and a saviour of ships,"
Said in one of Homer's hymns.
Next is Hera, Queen of the Gods, and of women.
Giving mothers a carriage, and marriage to men.
Next is Demeter, Goddess of Harvest, giving fertility.
Hades captured her daughter, Persephone, and her virginity.
Then there's Athena, Goddess of Wisdom.
Lept out of Zeus' head, and earned her throne in the kingdom.
Apollo is next, God of Music, Poetry, Light.
Also capable of bringing plague and plight.
Artemis, Goddess of Moon and Hunt, and Apollo's twin.
Guided mothers through childbirth, a sacred ******
Also, beloved Aphrodite, Goddess of Love.
Lover of Ares, who favored battles and blood.
Only Hephaestus and Aphrodite were wed.
Fire, metalwork, art of sculpture he led.
Also, there's Hermes, a god bringing word.
Among other things, guide to the Underworld.
Finally, there's Hesta, Goddess of the Hearth.
Feeding families and serving the home with warmth.
Twelve Olympians, to rule the sky.
Twelve Olympians, give your memory a try.
Jan 22, 2014
Jan 22, 2014 at 9:10 PM UTC
i. "Why did the number of parking tickets spike
when Persephone was carried off to the underworld?
Demeter wasn't working."
She liked greek mythology puns.
It was a good thing I was creative.
ii. Truth or Dare, I asked her what
was the best decision she's ever made.
she answered with, "In 7th grade I named my puppy Achilles,
so when I saw him I could say, 'Achilles, heel!'"
iii. It took me two weeks to realise that
when we held hands, I wasn't really
holding her hand, but a chainsaw,
ready to slash through anything that stood in our way like
Hercules chopping off the Hydra's head.
I was immortal.
iv. August eleventh; 9 PM
we watched for the meteor shower.
I connected the freckles splayed upon her knee,
told her they looked like the constellation of Cassiopeia.
"Be Sirius" she jested.
v. She had a bad habit
of smoking at the beach and I
Wondered if she knew that with
every single flick of ash into the water,
Poseidon was cursing her to the River Styx.
vi. Headaches visited her often, I joked that
maybe she was getting ready to birth
a Goddess from her cranium. She
did not find it clever.
vii. You could say we became like Aphrodite and
Hephaestus. I, longing for her. She,
lusting after another. A synonym for her
headaches would be me.
viii. Apparently if you hack off a Hydra head, two
would grow to replace it. Knowing this sooner
probably would have saved me from numerous
amounts of Kleenex and chocolate.
ix. She left me a note on the dresser,
"Fun fact: Medusa's favourite cheese was
Gorgon-zola. PS - you remind me
of Medusa, please remember to brush your hair."
She reminds of Medusa as well, I do not doubt that if we
meet again, her eyes would still turn me into
stone.
Dec 12, 2013
Dec 12, 2013 at 7:15 PM UTC
** TO HEPHAESTUS (8 lines)
(ll. 1-7) Sing, clear-voiced Muses, of Hephaestus famed for
inventions. With bright-eyed Athene he taught men glorious gifts
throughout the world, -- men who before used to dwell in caves in
the mountains like wild beasts. But now that they have learned
crafts through Hephaestus the famed worker, easily they live a
peaceful life in their own houses the whole year round.
(l. 8) Be gracious, Hephaestus, and grant me success and
prosperity!
5.7k
Cytherea, thy dainty Adonis is dying!
Ah, what shall we do?
O Nymphs, let it echo, the voice of your crying,
The greenwood through!
O Forest-maidens, smite on the breast,
Rend ye the delicate-woven vest!
Let the wail ring wild and high:
'Ah for Adonis!' cry.
O Sappho, how canst thou chant the bliss
Of Kypris — after such day as this?
'Oh Adonis, thou leavest me — woe for my lot!
And Eros, my servant, availeth me not!'
So wails Cytherea, grief-distraught.
'Who shall console me for thee? There is none —
Not Ares my god-lover, passionate one
Who sware in his jealousy forth to hale
Hephaestus my spouse from his palace, if he
Dared but to lift his eyes unto me.
Not he can console me, Adonis, for thee!'
Wail for Adonis, wail!
4.4k
How could I spell out love when it is absent of her name?
The way her eyes reflected a sunrise, the envy of Eos
She was like honey in the sky, the amber of her energy enraptured me
I was bewitched
She was a masterpiece drawn with starlight, unfathomable beauty
An ivory sculpture crafted by the hands of a god, masterpiece of Hephaestus
I remember the time I was blessed by that smile,
A vilified promise
The scent of patchouli and the taste of my favorite tea
Like ambrosia for a mortal, that sweet taste of paradise
Sunflowers and the many other favorites that she gave me
Stolen without a word
She used to call me late at night to talk about her day
But the days for me got longer, I couldn't keep her entertained
Such a coldness hid underneath the warmth I thought she gave me
Gone like a ghost in the night
I thought I was breathless because I loved her, now I’m suffocated by the agony
She was killing me underneath the sweetness, constricting like a boa
And when I close my eyes to see the memories lapse she's still in them
Haunting me like she wanted
Eros' is golden arrows struck me hard and shamelessly
Through my heart and left a scar, chasmic and wide
Her toxic serotonin left me high, addicted to her energy
A limitless euphoria
I spoke to the gods above and I told them of my love
What a liar she's made me out to be, the clever snake
I begged that Aphrodite let my words reach her
But they fell on deaf ears
Now I pray that Anteros relieves me and hears my plea
Unravel these feelings in my heart, lift the anchor of her name
Don't let me be the sole carrier of the blame
For the ruin that remains
Nov 7, 2021
Nov 7, 2021 at 7:42 AM UTC
I am Hephaestus,
Festering,
Alone in my home
Of infidelity. Pestering,
My goddess, my queen,
With pleas, that I may reach
And touch her beauty,
That my ears may hear her sing.
Hoping I could snake my way
Around her olive tree,
With the courage of Athene.
She's the amor in the air,
Armored by her disgusted stare.
And I'm ensnared. Tangled,
In her hair. Amongst dead roses,
And broken mirrors, I repair.
Mending what was never there.
Convincing myself I'm not impaired.
I am Hephaestus,
Festering,
In this forge.
I'm scorched,
By my heart's
Endless scourge.
-SLuR
May 5, 2016
May 5, 2016 at 12:33 AM UTC
Forged by Hephaestus himself, tempered in Satan's heart.
It moves too fast for the normal eye to see,
But leaves traces of moon glinted footsteps in the fissure of heaven's breath.
In the harmonic tune of clashing instruments, an orchestrated chaos is present.
The chord from the bowstring beats time on wooden shields.
To this, their blade waltz continues.
Their cadence unmatched by surrounding performers,
The maestros continue their viperous style.
Just as a painter cannot take away a stroke of the brush,
A swordsman cannot take away a stroke of the blade.
Jan 15, 2016
Jan 15, 2016 at 5:30 PM UTC
The snowflake is castellated cold,
Of chill crenellations and turnings narrow.
Court of pie-powders and gray-skied brazier smoke,
Of inner mazework dimmed to ****** holes,
Or the hooded machicolations from tower spire
Of oily darkness and arrowslits of Greek fire.
—
The snowflake is Medieval reliquary,
The frozen skull of rain and blood clear of sin,
Wind-captive with its prayer of quiet
On quietest lips, close to wine and sacrament.
Or the chapel and its waxen paramours
Of incorrupt body and candlelight upon the moors.
—
The snowflake is the mighty frozen spark,
Fire-forged and ironwrought,
Under the eye of Hephaestus,
Blacksmith of sorrow’s wind.
May 11, 2019
May 11, 2019 at 7:47 PM UTC
i wish i could have helped you fly
i wish i could have given you wings crafted by Hephaestus himself
i wish i did not have to see you fall
blinded by the light of the sun
as you sank into the depths of the ocean
i wish i could have caught you with my arms
when all you wanted was to be free
i wish i could have saved you
before you flew too close to the sun
and melted your wings
our universes never shared
any sort of symmetry,
parallel as they will always be,
but icarus, i do not know why
i carry the weight of your undoing.
Oct 6, 2016
Oct 6, 2016 at 11:07 PM UTC
“ Master Blacksmith, I would like to commission a weapon most formidable. The mere mention of its legendary name shall strike fear in my foes. “
{ In Hephaestus’ name, I craft you this }
So I will hone your heart,
Set fire to your lungs,
And conquer all your unanswered prayers
Into a battle roar.
I will boil these tears.
A stinging, blinding pool at the bay of your eyes,
Use them for crystal clarity,
To sharpen the mind like a whetstone.
I will forge a sword from your fury,
And the hate of your enemies.
Temper it with thunder,
Cut a path out of illusions.
But not before this:
I crush your spirit a thousand times,
Force you to your knees.
I will show no mercy on your soul —
Not even if you beg for it —
Bleed it, wring the daylight out of it.
To your despair, growth is the cruelest devil,
And I its most loyal advocate.
But in time you will learn Strength,
And to heal;
Through the growing pains and screams
Mend all broken bones,
Stitch up all the open wounds.
Dripping, drilling, stilling.
You will, you will, at your will,
Lace together the miracle, the magum opus: Your undefeated self.
No comfort or ease lies in death.
But all phoenix bathe in flame and ash.
Selves and egos, they died for you to live
— So live!
Dance on its grave with manic abandon.
Honor it with your new life.
Transcend it, over and over again.
Oct 20, 2018
Oct 20, 2018 at 3:35 PM UTC
One of the sweetest Greek gods out there;
a soul so kind and rare.
What he lacks in physical beauty,
he more than made up with talents and loyalty.
Zeus and Hera threw him down the mountain
but he's fated to be an Olympian.
Let me tell you a thing or two
about his determination and skills too.
Faithful and love you, he will.
He may not say it but he'll show it with his blacksmith skill.
Working hard day and night;
to make you a gift like Apollo's Sun, that bright.
Made out of stars, so massive you like.
He handpicks the best ones for luck.
Forged in the fire with the greatest details,
hammered with perfection, just like in the old tales.
Why must they turn away for he is ugly
when he made you weapons that made mortals flee?
O' Aphrodite, don't you run with Ares tonight.
Remember how your husband's gift locked you tight.
Hephaestus is kind and forgiving
but with his gifted hands, looks can be deceiving.
-m.b
Jan 13, 2017
Jan 13, 2017 at 5:37 AM UTC
The first time i saw you, your stare lingered beneath
My mind went blank, it's as if i was recovered from the river Lethe
Eros and Ananke took the longest time on fashioning you
Apollo would befriend you because in my mind, you are the greatest view
To gain your love, i am willing to carry the world like Atlas
If you ask me, i will suffer the pits of Tatarus and come back to be your lass
I wouldn't mind staying with you in the island of Calypso
To be with you, i would face Charybdis and jump inside her tornado
Everytime you smile, it's as if the gates of Olympus open just for me
Your face will launch a thousand ships and i won't mind bringing my army
If i have no chance, my grief would reach the river Cocytus
And my heart would wander in the labyrinth of Daedalus
In the most confusing maze, you are my Ariadne string
You are the melody of the three muses when they sing
To get to your love how i wish i could be the goddess, Aphrodite
And maybe you can be Odysseus and i will be Penelope
With my kind of desire for you, Artemis and her hunters would never approve
If i am not for you, i would persuade Aphrodite and deny Cupid's reprove
Like Zeus and his lightning bolt, i can never leave your side
Poseidon's angry seas would compare to my feelings which will take long to subside
For your honor, i will fight like Hector of Troy
But like the giant, Typhon, someone will always destroy
Like Paris and Helen, we were doomed from the start
You are Cassandra and I, Apollo so you will never give me your heart
I am not Aphrodite, not Hestia, Helen and Hera
You can compare me to Circe, The Fates or even Medusa
Not as important as Hercules, Odysseus and Achilles
I might as well have a tea party with Achlys
No ship will be launched for my sake
In the garden of Hesperides, i am ignored even by a snake
In Olympus, you feast with the twelve goddesses and gods
Together with Hephaestus who was shunned, i share his odds.
Nov 18, 2014
Nov 18, 2014 at 2:30 AM UTC
Loud Wind! Loud Wind! Why do you fie?
What troubles thou in 'neath night's sun?
What anger breeds that cause reply
Of trash bag bins and branches flung?
What son'rous winds that may her cry
Leaf-tears hung by moon-tide wind?
Sylvan weeps has Hephaestus yield;
Evil tunes of nature's dial:
Loudest Wind, what bellows you wield?
When stolen from the fire child?
Loud Wind, what sonnets will thy seal?
With mountain breaths of winter deep?
And other houses shall delight
Unpleasant shakings of their rooms:
Perhaps, Loud Wind, this waning night
May ever proud your selfish booms;
Fie! Wake all men that lay tonight!
Loud Wind, Loud Wind, fie this night moon!
Mar 11, 2021
Mar 11, 2021 at 3:33 AM UTC
She was lovely
With hair that fell in soft curls
And skin that was soft and light
Her freckles were like stars
Forming constellations
And her eyes were like the sky
That had married with the sea
And moss that grew on the edges
Of great boulders
She was strong
She was lovely
She could move mountains
But she never saw herself as such
Like Aphrodite she was perfect
But she saw Hephaestus everyday
How do you make the sun see itself?
The moon reflects its light
But the sun never cares
She was the sun
I was the moon
She was lovely
But she never knew.
Feb 21, 2015
Feb 21, 2015 at 11:37 PM UTC
Venus was back to her wicked tricks; I never planned for the way you stole the breath from my lungs, but kept me begging for more. Or what about the beauty in your words? The Goddess of love and beauty could never compare to the way you once made me feel.
I bet Zeus had never thrown a lightening bolt as shocking as the way it felt when you first held my hand. I bet every lover he ever had never quite made him feel as complete as you could make me feel.
But there you were, and like Hephaestus you built me a stable castle for every pulse of my heart. I never felt so safe in such a small room, but now the walls close in and even Vulcan's fire can't match the heat from your embrace.
You were also Mercury, and your quick feet made me trip far faster than I should have. I just wanted to keep up, but our messages must have been left behind and now Cupid's arrows don't quite work like they did when we were young.
I felt like Tantalus when you let the vulture of your mind rip apart my stomach and leave me in sections on the rug. You were the food held just out of my reach and you were the waters I drowned deeper and deeper into, day in and day out.
Dec 3, 2013
Dec 3, 2013 at 4:57 PM UTC
To you
Who can be all that is good on earth
Not with romance
But just a smile
Tailored by Hephaestus
Mar 5, 2012
Mar 5, 2012 at 11:17 PM UTC
born with stars in my eyes, my mother hid me, as her lost pride
from a world better left unsaid, she led me
like Hephaestus, she brought me to my ruin
Persephone to her Demeter
she couldn’t secure me
from the darkness and majesty of the cosmos
carried as a gem, raced as a precious gift
Ruined, am I just now embracing the back of this luminous dark thrown
It's taken me so many stumbles to reach it just here.
take myself a bite, a bite of your sex's pomegranate and their elixir will make my eyes glitter
and with the pain, my imagination sparkles in cycles once again
Hades, you're also my keeper
your depth provides the outer boundaries between the heavens and the deep cavernous dark
rooting me in a true reality, unkempt and whole
carry me as a gift from the world of light and exhibit the warmth of your darkness
hold me as the morbid message that I am
I am my mother’s vulnerability,
agile like the back of the fawns hind legs
dark like the primordial existence in these pools, so known as my conscious eye
they’ve experienced both sides to every miniscule perception of this existence
and they are sore with painful wisdoms
never, can I stay atop this graveyard loft
because I am forever saturated
forever, reminded of the graves and their meaning.
May 12, 2013
May 12, 2013 at 7:27 AM UTC
the life you have hitherto Refined
whence love shall wax and wane
cannot know Hephaestus's grief
for you and he are not the same.
now Steel your restless heart,
and from it, Forge the demon's bane
lest your senseless grief, in Fires
of boldest Mettle, wrong you all the same.
Sep 29, 2016
Sep 29, 2016 at 10:19 PM UTC
sound the horn ;
The dead are preparing for war, my
gut is a forge they cannot find
Who hides Hephaestus' phoenix inside
chinks of rattling
chainmail ;
feather-
beak-
claw(ing)
up gravestones, RIP(ping) breath from
Flesh
So when the skies tremble to hear the
wailing of a burning sun-set
,,,
they will ride in, a silent scream of glowing-iron-hell-fire-
Hail :::
Daughter of Echidna
will You
lead us
to victory?
Aug 29, 2016
Aug 29, 2016 at 9:42 AM UTC
If I were pure Aphrodite
sowing seeds in mountains,
on rivers, alongside Athena’s bath.
If only I could move underneath
Hephaestus rather than within
him. But when he hammers, I hammer,
When he cries, it rains. Maybe we
don’t belong together, not because
there are big wide spaces but
because I'm meant to comb the earth
with dew-filled seeds. I just want to wait
and watch this rose of sharon grow,
hold it in my hand and count the
petals, then count again as though
the number 5 can change and move.
I want it to be mine, no-- I want to want
it to be mine, for when love carves
into horse shoes, I only stay a season.
We plant our seeds, we watch, we leave,
She carries on. I mourn.
Apr 26, 2013
Apr 26, 2013 at 2:31 PM UTC
And so, with him, the marble body of Apollo would not be so easily outdone.
Look how Hephaestus' muscle-clad arms would not surrender,
nor would his.
Look how Dionysus would weep at the acid in his vineyard veins,
eyelids struck with Zeus's violet lightning,
And so the blood in which Ares bathes drips down the fault lines in his chalky palms,
lips pinker than the silk of a woman, smoother than Eros's thighs, feet bruised like Heracles's would have been.
Our modern day Paris, gorgeosity incarnate,
even in that livid instant of death.
Mar 15, 2015
Mar 15, 2015 at 6:13 PM UTC
As the chisel strikes the marble, so the psyche shapes the man.
Perfect in his alabaster, carving self from his own hands.
And once honed, his craft can grow by drafting bodies made of stone
Sourced from quarries free of worry, something he can call his own.
If he wishes to ascend beyond his animal desires,
He must grow a patience cold enough to ***** the raging fires
Burning hot against his skin and so within his weary soul,
For his enemy resides in him, and stokes the glowing coals.
Jun 17, 2018
Jun 17, 2018 at 10:40 PM UTC
Pandora lifted the lid from her box
And boy! ALL hell broke loose.
You want to put the "evils" back?
You can try, but it's no use.
(It wasn't a box but really a jar,
Many translators maintain.
Box, jar…call it whatever.
The story's key points remain.)
Hephaestus had followed Zeus' orders
And made Pandora from the earth.
The first of the race of women was she,
The story goes--for what it's worth.
Sickness, strife, toil, killing…
In short the ills of humankind
Escaped and now we're stuck with them.
For any evil that comes to mind--
Countless ways to destroy the earth,
Ways to **** ways to maim,
Terrorist bombs, torture, and plunder--
Dear Pandora takes the blame.
(She shares similarities
With Eve of Biblical fame, but whether
There were connections, that would be
Another story altogether.)
If someone said, "See this box?
Don't open it, whatever you do."
Or gave the command, "Don't eat this fruit!"
Wouldn't you be curious, too?
In letting out the world's evils
Pandora was pushing the envelope.
The one thing that she left in the box
Was a little glimmer of hope.
Maybe that hope stays in the box--
Out of our touch. That's a suggestion.
Or if it were released, could it
Conquer evil? That's a good question.
Couldn't Pandora see that this
Was JUST a setup? Well, she should have.
But if SHE hadn't lifted the lid,
Somebody else certainly would have.
- by Bob B (6-6-17)
Jun 6, 2017
Jun 6, 2017 at 10:02 AM UTC