That building seems to soar. Athenian men
Would watch the mountain mornings as if the gods
That Phidias friezed there might command the pan
Of hammered dawn to scoop them into clouds
And set them with the temple on the peak
Olympus. Each day Athena dreamed
Against her arm and seemed about to break
A sigh beside the spear on which she leaned.
But more like gods than man, the Greek that made
Them rooted columns fast to earth and held
The flying structure with the surest weld:
Horsemen down on fallen mounts display
The wealth of muscles clearly strained; a girl
Bends down to tie her sandal in a curl.
Greece, 1963
From Patrick’s collection called poems.odt.
Patrick Meadows 1934 – 2017.