James Arthur was born in Connecticut and raised in Canada. His debut poetry collection is entitled Charms against Lightning (Copper Canyon Press, 2012). Arthur has taught composition at Northwest Missouri State University and is an assistant professor at Johns Hopkins. He lives in the Baltimore area with his wife, the fiction writer Shannon Robinson.

Troy

by James Arthur

The war is wrapping up, and there’s nothing left of Troy.
Broken stone, broken clay, a smoke stain on the sky.
The Greeks even broke the skull and back of Hector’s little boy.
Odysseus, packing up his bags, thinks, Soon I’ll be home.
Agamemnon’s looking forward to a good meal and a bath.

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