Atop the Topless Towers

by Michael Shindler (June 2023)

Helen on the Walls of Troy, Gustave Moreau, 1885

Atop the topless towers
Of a violet Ilium,
Can you mark the shade of Helen?
__
No meter renders those hours
Or verses ad nauseam,
But they round her like Magellan.
__
We all go as we would
And don’t come to the point;
Our whistle, our war drum,
Our hum—are out of joint;
__
In the red heart of Paris
Fair Helen stood
Like white flowers
On the banks of Elysium.

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Michael Shindler is a writer living in Washington, DC. His work has appeared in publications including The American Conservative, The American Spectator, National Review Online, New English Review, University Bookman, and Providence. Follow him on Twitter @MichaelShindler.

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