The traditions recycled and passed down
on an earth that forever stood still.
An essence diluted to the dusty remains
of some forgotten desert in the Nile Valley.
A blueprint of life and the fear
to push back against it.
But in the heart of Ancient Greece,
life existed not for tradition but for progress.
Amphoras spawned from Minoan hands,
the eight-legged symmetry of being.
The Athenian mourners united in grief;
the fertile soil of despair and decay.
The mortal form, granted eternal,
yet not to sit as a token before the gods,
but to push a body to the edge of Olympus,
and boldly ask for more.
It was never art for art's sake
nor perfection preserved in a bronze mould.
For every pillar or mound of red clay
spoke forth through the years with an instruction.
To take the essence entwined with life itself
and weave the boundaries beyond the horizon.
To honour a fondness for what stood before
by daring to want to be better.
Benjamin Parker is a poet based in North Wales with works published in publications such as The Uncoiled, The Purposeful Mayonnaise, and Nawr Mag. Benjamin graduated with First-Class Honours in English Literature and Creative Writing at the Open University and is now studying an MA in English Literature.