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I got this idea after jokingly remarking to Arpeejay, that we haven't seen modernist poetry here on MG yet, so I'm writing one in jest, because the irreverent humour I cultivated as a student is still alive. It's not your average muscle growth story, but I hope it is suggestive enough. Growth: A poem Echoes in the mind. Memories from the past: Some to keep, some to leave behind. Vivid mind. Brittle body Echoes in the mind. Heroes from the past: Greater than other kings, lofty in stature, a hero born in Uruk, a wild and rampaging bull was he. The sheer physicality! The space he occupies Fear of the place with steel-weights In bloodstream herolatry Vivid mind. Adolescent body Echoes in the mind. Heroes from the past: A man unlike no other cometh down from the mountains. His strength is beyond compare; he is like unto an immortal. The sheer physicality! The space he occupies Fear of the place with steel-weights In bloodstream shame Allure of the place with steel-weights De profundis: The URGE Mens sana in corpore sano in Alexandria of yore. But THE URGE? Vivid mind. Lanky body Echoes in the mind. Heroes from the past: Culann's dog and his body-changing frenzy The sheer physicality! The space he occupies Present in the place with steel-weights In bloodstream URGE Vivid mind. Changing body Echoes in the mind. Heroes from the past: Hottr drinking monster-blood, becoming Hjalti The sheer physicality! The space he occupies Home at the place with steel-weights In bloodstream GROWTH of heroes past becoming walls protective walls of flesh instead of brick becoming like the heroes past becoming wall protective wall of flesh instead of brick In bloodstream URGE, in bloodstream GROWTH becoming like the echoes in the mind. In bloodstream joy asserting joy The sheer physicality! The space you occupies huge at the place with steel-weights towering Pharos for brothers journeying yearning for sheer physicality! The space you occupies seeking the harbour, protective wall hearing the echoes, too Allure of the place with steel-weights echoes of their past leaving some behind when you play Bödvar's part and they attain The sheer physicality! The space they occupies and they become Greater than other kings, lofty in stature because In bloodstream URGE, in bloodstream GROWTH! Commentary Any modernist poem need a commentary, of course. Wink. Wink. ? The most obvious references are the following: The first two quotes come from the Gilgamesh Epic, and describe the two heroes Gilgamesh and Enkidu De profundis are the two first words of Psalm 130 (129 in older Catholic bibles for historical reasons), with lots and lots of famous settings Mens sana in corpore sano is a Latin saying by Juvenal, based on a Greek original by Thales of Miletus (624-546 BCE), so the quotes and allusions on heroic tales and physioculture are arranged chronologically Alexandria was founded by Alexander the Great in 332 BCE. Ships were guided to its harbour by the help of the lighthouse on Pharos, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Is the reader re-building himself into a wonder? The city-walls of Alexandria become a figure of speech for a gym-rat's mental and physical changes. "Culann's dog" is the literal meaning of the name of Cú Chullainn, one of the most famous heroes in Irish mythology, set in a time before the age of St. Patrick: Iron Age Ireland. Cú Chullainn was increasing in strength and turning monstrous in battle, so – in a manner of speaking – he is the original fictitious hero to "hulk out" An Icelandic saga, the tale of Hrolf Kraki (which bear some similarities with the Anglo-Saxon Beowulf Epic), tell the story of the warrior Bödvar (who is able to transform himself into a bear) protect a bullied youngster called Hottr, and let Hottr drink the blood of a monster, which formerly, until Bödvar stopped it, used to harass the court of King Hrolf. After that, Hottr turn into a huge and confident warrior, and change his name to Hjalti. The saga takes place during the Vendel Age (550-790 CE), and comes last in the chronological change, except for the new heroic tales that begin when the reader and his friends change themselves into kings over their own lives, and become good, joyful modern men accepting themselves and helping others.