OLYPHEMUS PERVERSE
Victor Howes

His dark days drag. He doesn't have a clue
why he was blinded. Just an island soul
minding his sheep until Odysseus' crew
barged in on him. His hovel but a hole
in the rock wall, his hospitality
put to the test with only cheese to offer
unwanted visitors. No wonder he
panicked and ate the guests. Half-savage duffer,
curmudgeon, hermit, with that single eye
plunk in the middle ofhis forehead. Why,
why should he give a damn what people thought?
He wasn't playing by their human rules:
unfair to blind him. Strangers must be taught
to keep their distance. Eat the bloody fools.