
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 that I wrote, “Holes for the Eyes,” was inspired by the bronze helmet. It’s in allegory form, much like Seamus Heaney’s “The Grauballe Man.” In it, I hoped to give a fictional backstory on the everyday use of that particular helmet and the many possible things that the helmet might have been through. I also really wanted to link it military service and the mental toughness those ancient soldiers must have had, which was something that a helmet would have served to protect.
Holes for the Eyes
Solemn-faced and modest,
its bronze casted dome
reflects the sunlight
into the eyes of its comrades,
its holes for the eyes
masking the emotions
of the souls behind them
as the march continues.
What had those eyes beheld?
Was it the infinite path
ahead? Perhaps the savage
sword of their Maker?
Or maybe those eyes
had served enough
and hung up this old relic,
never thought of again.
A survivor of both
time and tussle,
its memories are as real
as they are fantastic.
The polished bronze,
so willingly warped and bent
but, like the eyes behind it,
refusing to be broken,
its determination
smelted, pounded and
gifted by the raging
fire of the forge.