simonides

By Rodney Koeneke
Simonides, whose bitterness
yoked art to memory
     stayed unimpressed
with host and god alike. Suppose

the dropped crust had occurred
at your table, the tremor
    floored your rowdy
hall of praise. Loss

provokes economy:
sound to scale, word
to fee. Ghosts
   learn death
from threnody.