3 Poems
Jordi Alonso
Jordi Alonso holds degrees in English literature from Kenyon College (AB ’14) Stony Brook University (MFA ’16) and the University of Missouri (PhD ’21). He is currently a Classical Studies MA student at Columbia University. Honeyvoiced, his first book, was published by XOXOX Press in 2014 and his chapbook, The Lovers’ Phrasebook, was published by Red Flag Poetry Press in 2017. His work appears in Kenyon Review Online, Roanoke Review, Levure Littéraire, and other journals. Follow him on Twitter @nymphscholar or get to know his work at jordialonsopoet.com
Author’s Note
The three sonnets you’re about to read, “108 ἄῤῥητον κρύπτε / hide secret things”, “122 φειδομένος μὴ λείπε / be thrifty always” and “128 πλούτῳ ἀπίστει / do not trust wealth” are part of a set of 147 poems tentatively titled The Delphic Sonnets based on the same number of maxims which the 5th century traveler Johannes Stobaeus collected in his Anthology. These maxims, which sources tell us were either inscribed or somehow set up at the temple of Apollo at Delphi, were variously attributed in antiquity: to priestesses, to the Seven Sages, or to Apollo himself. In my retelling, they are spoken by the priestess Themistoklea, a historical Priestess of Apollo who lived in the 6th century BCE and was said to have been Pythagoras’ teacher; hear her speak again in these poems.
108 ἄῤῥητον κρύπτε
You’ll find a fountain on the left hand side
when you arrive at Hades’ palaces.
Don’t drink from it or rest your feet nearby
or linger near the shining cypress tree.
The mother of the Muses and her guard
keep one lake safe from those injurious waters.
You’ll have to say in good confident Greek:
“I am Earth’s child. My starry father, Sky,
cannot be measured. But you know all things.
I’m dry and dying; give me water, quickly.”
And if you wish to never die of thirst,
hide secret things from those who haven’t heard them.
Mnemosyne will let you drink your fill
and heal your feet from every bruise and blister.
122 φειδομένος μὴ λείπε
Persephone was picking flowers when
her mother made all living trees bear fruit
to keep the world from lacking nourishment.
She could’ve asked Demeter to make more
once every stem was bare and petals filled
her basket, but she left anemones
untouched. Be thrifty always, if you’re not,
not everyone will have enough to take
and goddesses of nature will rebel
against the mortals who prioritize
their comfort first, before collective safety.
Demeter feeds us and though Bakhos lives
here for three months, who would be satisfied
with wine alone and nothing else to eat?
128 πλούτῳ ἀπίστει
After the battle with the Persians on
the bay of Marathon, Athens erected
(along the Sacred Way) a treasury
of Parian marble so that everyone
who walked up to the Temple of Apollo
would marvel at their generosity.
Delphi is not the center of the world
because the precious metals of all cities
are here in service of Apollo’s wishes.
Do not trust wealth; listen to women’s voices:
three priestesses once worked within this space
and we all spoke for Delphi and the world.
Silver and marble can be damaged, lost,
but taken care of, words can last forever.
