a remix of fragments by Archilochus (690-645 BC),
as translated by Guy Davenport in Carmina Archilochi
 

Heavy and high buckles the sea.
We complain / we blame.
This is no time for poetry.

Torn by perplexity /
the captains ram and rage.
Heavy and high buckles the sea.

O forsaken / society.
Greed / storm / day after day.
This is no time for poetry.

Heart and what / destiny?
Chatter / in time of shame.
Heavy and high buckles the sea.

Birdnests / plums / in jeopardy.
Lives in the arms of the waves.
This is no time for poetry.

Honor / confusion / calamity.
Tears cannot drive misery away.
Heavy and high buckles the sea.
This is no time for poetry?

Christine Rhein’s poetry collection, Wild Flight, is a winner of the Walt McDonald First Book Prize (Texas Tech University Press). Her poems have appeared widely in literary journals, including The Southern Review, The Gettysburg Review, and Michigan Quarterly Review. Her anthology credits include A Constellation of Kisses and The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2017.