"Sanctuary of Apollo" by Vivian Finley Nida

Songs of Eretz Poetry Review is pleased to present “Sanctuary of Apollo” by Vivian Finley Nida.  Nida is a Teacher/Consultant with the Oklahoma Writing Project, affiliated with the University of Oklahoma.  She holds a B.A. in English and an M.S. in Secondary Education from Oklahoma State University. 

In addition to past appearances in Songs of Eretz Poetry Review, her work has appeared in Illya’s Honey, Dragon Poet Review, River Poets Journal “Windows” edition, Westview:  Journal of Western Oklahoma, and the 2017 Woody Guthrie Poetry Anthology.  Nida lives in Oklahoma City.

Sanctuary of Apollo

Vivian Finley Nida 

          How lonely sits the city that was full of people!

          --The Lamentations of Jeremiah: 1

Inside the walled perimeter

strewn with rubble

"Apollo" Ink & Watercolor on Paper
By J. Artemus Gordon

an uneven path winds 

through the end of the world 

the home of Kourion’s protector

god of the woodlands

A low stone wall lines 

ruins of the palaestra 

where athletes trained

Some columns stand

Others lie collapsed 

like defeated wrestlers

Pillars guard a dormitory 

near the sacred way

leading to the elevated temple

Two columns soar twenty feet into leafless blue

support remnants of a portico 

walls, jagged like steep stairs 

Enduring in shade, stones lament

lost olive, orange, lemon groves

vineyards, cattle, donkeys

prayers to Apollo, worshippers 

who feared being cast into the sea 

for touching his temple

who lost faith in terra firma 

when it shook their tomorrows 

until the only thing certain was uncertainty

Poet’s Notes:  I visited this ancient site where people worshipped Apollo from the 8th century BCE to the 4th century CE when an earthquake destroyed it.  The ruins tell a story of how quickly one’s world can end, which led to this poem.

Editor’s Note:  The personification of the lost city in the 7th stanza is breathtaking, allowing the ruins to literally as well as figuratively represent her lost people.  I see a larger metaphor here for modern times--the lost city of Kourion as a metaphor for cities like Detroit or losses yet to come due to climate change, nuclear war, or some other catastrophe at which the final stanza hints.  The imagery is strong throughout the piece.  And as a bonus, Kourion is a real place (although a bit obscure--I admit I had to research it).