Helmet, Greek (Corinth), ca. 700-650 BCE, 22.2 cm (H) x 17.0 cm (W) x 25.5cm (D), The Johns Hopkins Archaeological Museum, Kemper Simpson Collection, Accession Number K59.

Poet’s Statement

The poem I wrote, was about the bronze helmet in the museum. I wrote a narrative in which, I tried to create a back story about where this helmet came from and who wore it. This helmet must have belonged to someone, and it must have a story, I tried to give it one.

Bronze Helmet

The cold

Bronze

Thin

Yet malleable

Offered little

Protection.

The shiny and polished

Bronze piece had not been made

For him.

It was too big

For it was his father’s

And he

was just

A

Boy.

Strings were attached

And pulled

Together

Using the puny dimpled

Holes around

The eye slits

To pull it

Tight.

Pressing snug to

The young soldier’s face,

The round oval slits

Emphasized his lifeless eyes.

Eyes that

Had that seemed ageless.

Eyes that

Witnessed

Horrors.

The helmet now

Covered in mud

Was crudely

squeezed. It

Was

Smashed. The

Helmet of

Tragedy. A fate shared

By both

Father

And

Son.