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	Kudos to the winners of our third Odes to Olympians contest (Spring 2009), featuring Poseidon, or in the Roman form, Neptune! Susan Sanchez-Barnett won first prize in the adult category, while Brooke Fuller won first prize for those under eighteen. We had many excellent entries. Honorable mentions (Adult) are: Persephone Vandegrift, Jennifer Moore, and Delroy Oberg. Honorable mentions (under 18) are: Laurel Cousin, Rebecca Tucker, Ralf Popescu, Eleanor Ellis, and Katie Ailes. Scroll down to see the winners and the honorable mentions for the Odes honoring Poseidon! And please come back for future contests!	The Tapestry of Bronze is a series of novels set in Bronze Age Greece. There’s no need to read our books to enter the contests, but if you like mythology, or historical fiction, or exciting stories, we think you’ll enjoy them! To see our novels at Amazon, available in either hardcopy or electronic formats, click on the covers below. Your purchase helps support future contests!
First Prize - Adult “Paean for Poseidon” Susan Sanchez-Barnett ocean, realm of water, furious flow of foam spins around the chariot wheels as surges forth wild waves as sea stallions reined by the hands of Poseidon course through his salt kingdom, lord of all the ocean trident clutched in his fist, the god’s fury unleashed from the rumblings of the seabed to the dry land of forgetful mortals, pulsating passion erupts forth, quickening quakes arise as descends the trident tempest so turbulent transforms the swelling surf into a mariner’s nightmare, until culminates the sapphire spirit of the sea god, briny breezes whisper in the wind-swept waves, end of his tempest First Prize - Under 18 “The Constant” Brooke Fuller Time passes swiftly. Storms rage. Friends die. And I am constant. Matches are played, games won or lost. And I am constant. Wars are fought and babies born. And I am constant. Women grow fickle and men forlorn. And I stay constant. Empires rise and empires fall, And I stay constant. Storms may billow above me and hell may burn beneath me, And I stay constant. When ages roll and all is lost, I remain. When all falls to ruin, I stand still. I may roll and crash and moan, but I am constant. Here I stay. Here I have chosen. Here I will ever be. I am constant. So when ages roll by and enemies live on and old friends die, When your life has passed by and your children have left you, You may find me for I am constant. When all else fails, you can find me. You'll find me where the tides comes in, where the waves crash and the waters rush in, There you will find me. For I am the sea and the sea is me and there you will find me, My eyes the endless depths, my beard all tangled with kelp, My hands the mighty whales, my face carved from the washed stone, My teeth all made of shells, And you'll hear my laugh, the sound of the mighty thunderous waves. Let it chill your bones and warm your heart for there I will be, constant. So my brother may rule above me, and my brother may rule below me But I will be constant, Lord, Master, King, God, Poseidon of the sea. Honorable Mention - Adult “Neptune” Persephone Vandegrift He wakes, rises, ripples, and ebbs away after our lovemaking. Says he ‘longs to be closer to the stars’. A little jealous of his brother, I think. But I follow him blindly along the trident paths his magnanimous heart carves in the sand. I speak to him in his own language calling him back: “Divine Neptune, King of our Oceans, before my shore breaks, tumble forth into my arms!” He does not. I sink to my knees dip my hands into his cold blood; his soul sticks to my lips. He is forever undulating, dividing, reuniting and hypnotizing us. We are all Salacias in his eyes, loving him forever because we must. * Note from the Tapestry of Bronze: Salacia is the name of Neptune's wife in Roman mythology. Honorable Mention - Adult “The Forgotten” Jennifer Moore Do you not remember? Planting me in your ponds, your lakes, strapping me to your fountains like a stone-faced fool, turning deaf ears to my oceans’ roar, to the greed, the wild hunger and salted thirst, each crushing wave a thousand briny tongues to lick a fool’s flesh from his bones. Do you not hear the dead men’s cries? Do you not feel the bellow and drag, the whirlpooled torrents at my trident’s touch? Do you not feel the poor earth quake beneath your slow, mortal feet? Do you not remember? I, son of Cronus, son of Rhea, Earth-shaker, Widow-maker, Plain-flooder, Boat-scudder, Master of the deep – I, who called up islands with my fingertips, swept ships to sleep upon my corralled bed, kept proud Odysseus from sweet Ithaca’s shore, I, who did all this and more – where is my chariot now? My hippocampi? My sailors’ sacrifice - those drowning horses at my swirling feet? Do you not remember? Honorable Mention - Adult “POSEIDON: A FREUDIAN CASE STUDY” Delroy Oberg SESSION ONE: Nearing the End. “To sum up: You shake the Earth, Sky, Sea – You seem an angry, vengeful Deity. Your gold-maned horses, foaming white as snow, Rush your gold chariot where you wish to go To rape, belittle women, betray their trust, I fear you’ll get a bad name for your Lust. Even your sister, Demeter, in her woe You forced. Why do you hate women, may I know?” “Hate women? Oh Freud, how wrong you are. My passion for them takes me near and far. Although a God, I’m archetypal man. I lodge my seed in any maid I can. ‘Tis natural. And so may all men be. Dear Freud, have you a case of penis envy?” “Stay focused, please. Relax, and try to share Your memories of childhood. I think there Subliminal complex issues I’ll detect: ID fighting SUPEREGO, I suspect. Subconsciously you show, in what you’ve said, A touch of Oedipus has reared its head.” “My mother, Gaia, did me no great favour. She let my jealous father, Cronus, savour All his newborn babes, but Zeus. What shock Dad felt when swallowing that rock! The rest of us, by hated father swallowed, A second birth in vomit foully followed, And for Titanomachy set us free To punish father for his cruelty.” Freud checks his watch and thoughtfully rubs his cheek. “Poseidon, you’ve done well. Same time next week?” Honorable Mention - Under 18 “Equus” By Laurel Cousin In pursuit of love O god of waves You gave the water life. From your thought It galloped free With passion of your realm. Crested white as Your beloved waves It sails along the shore. And as it passes Like the wind over blue It leaves behind the moon. A reminder of The lady silver For all to treasure now. And you were taken By the sea That runs upon the earth. For did you not Feel the ocean Pounding in those feet? And did you not Hear the whale Singing in that neigh? Sea, did you not Love deep and true The wave-surge of that neck? I dedicate that Love to you For I’m a rider too. Honorable Mention - Under 18 “Poseidon’s creation” By Rebecca Tucker Fair Demeter, goddess of growing things, Caught the eye of ruthless Poseidon To win her affections he made her a present, An ugly monster that frightened poor Demeter away Frustrated, Poseidon tried again Another beast, not quite right Too long of a neck and very skinny legs As poor lovesick Poseidon tried over and over, Demeter laughed them off A nearsighted, grumpy and horned monster; A striped animal, black and white; And a muddy, fat, and lazy beast lounging in the water. At last with triumph An animal worthy of his love The most magnificent beast, With a long soft mane of hair tossed into the wind Hooves that would carry with speed anywhere over the land Bright eyes shined over a velvet nose A long lean body, Quivered with a longing to fly Poseidon, delighted with his creation, Made a whole herd Then forgetting about his love, Galloped away into the sunset. Honorable Mention - Under 18 “Deicide” Ralf Popescu The rush of the ocean’s flux grazes my ears, The gentlest of waves rising From the most insignificant of winds, Undoubtedly the workings of Poseidon. Few forces could summon what he can, From the tides which stroke my senses To the towers which crush us mortals. He offers a beauty to be commended And a strength to be feared. I would be astounded to see the day This Poseidon could ever be subdued. And as I think this, I watch a trinket catch the current, Made of no substance which the gods Have ever synthesized. It drifts along the shoreline, So invasive of the perfection Of the body of Poseidon. Unclean, unwanted, and unnatural, The subtlest form of deicide. Honorable Mention - Under 18 “Poseidon” Eleanor Ellis you always had a way of dividing people even though you were famous for creating shelter, walls, barricades, entire cities to cower behind. you always loved that illusion of security – you, a seaweed-strewn vagrant who made the water so heavy that boats could ride upon it, light with the hope of reaching their destination. they were fragile craft, and you could not stand the responsibility to keep so many both buoyant and vulnerable afloat: supple wood in those firm palms that so suddenly would flash golden – a trident – the metallic omnipotence of that three-pronged weapon (divinity, cruelty, and fear). years later, the modern men would cast you in the sky - dear Neptune, small, blue, and gasping I stood on the shore watching the sea tossing and turning under the moon’s careless gaze and cried for you. Honorable Mention - Under 18 “Might” Katie Ailes his great back rises and falls gently as he slumbers, rippling with his breathing. his beating heart pulsates out the waves that cascade onto the shore caressing the sand in a steady rhythm. his breath is the hiss of the waves his spittle is the salty spray and he coughs out the foamy refuse which sits atop the shells. his inhalations are smooth: he sleeps peacefully. But suddenly: A mortal has sinned! He has claimed superiority over the gods! At this act of egotistical hubris, Poseidon rises in rage. With his anger, he strikes at the shore. Roiling waves tower over the tiny villages Choleric tsunamis crash down, Drowning the humans in the mighty god's wrath. No mere man can pretend for a moment That he is greater than the god of the sea, Lest Poseidon remind him of his own mortality. Visit the winning poems of other Odes to Olympians contests! Winning Odes to Zeus Winning Odes to Hera Winning Odes to Demeter Winning Odes to Hermes Winning Odes to Athena Winning Odes to Apollo Winning Odes to Artemis Winning Odes to Ares Go here to visit the most current contest. Concerned that you don't know enough about the Olympians to write poems about them? You can explore these websites: Parada's Greek Mythology Link: A tremendously detailed resource Theoi Greek Mythology: Exploring Classical mythology in Literature and Art Timeless Myths: Greek myths and others as well Several have wondered: who are we and why do we do this? What exactly is this “Tapestry of Bronze?” First, our names are Victoria Grossack & Alice Underwood. We sponsor this contest because we want to encourage excellence and creativity. We’re using the same method used by the Greeks back in Classical Athens: competition. Instead of olive wreaths, we offer money and certificates for prizes. We especially want to encourage the under-18 because we want to support educators and students in our own small way. The idea occurred to us – most appropriately! – when we were visiting the ruins of ancient Olympia in Greece. Second, the Tapestry of Bronze is a series of interlocking novels. They are set in the Bronze Age of Greece – several generations before the Trojan War. This was known to many as the “Golden Age of Heroes,” but to us they seem to be made of bronze and not gold. Our series is a tapestry, because the books tie together, but one book may focus on one character while another focuses on another. Each book can be enjoyed separately, or the books can be enjoyed together. As we state above, it is NOT necessary to purchase or to read our novels in order to enter the contests. Still, if you like mythology, historical fiction or a good read, click on one of the covers below to visit a page at Amazon. If you like your books electronically, you can start reading today! Your purchase helps support future contests. Return to Home for Tapestry of Bronze Do you wish to contact us? Write to us at “tapestryofbronze” at “yahoo.com”		“A wonderfully nuanced novel” “Five quills” “Very strongly recommended” “Definitely worth reading” You also may be interested in visiting other parts of our website: Our Books (in English) Jocasta Children of Tantalus The Road to Thebes Arrows of Artemis Bιβλία στα ελληνκα - Our Books (in Greek) Odes to Olympians Contest Current: Winners of Past Contests: Zeus Hera Poseidon Demeter Hermes Athena Apollo Artemis Ares Pronunciation Guide Maps (Thebes, Pisa/Olympia, Eastern Mediterranean) The Stories Behind the Stories Acknowledgements, Thanks, Bibliography and Links About the Authors “A wonderfully nuanced novel” “Five quills” “Very strongly recommended” “Definitely worth reading” “A wonderfully nuanced novel” “Five quills” “Very strongly recommended” “Definitely worth reading” “A wonderfully nuanced novel” “Five quills” “Very strongly recommended” “Definitely worth reading” “A wonderfully nuanced novel” “Five quills” “Very strongly recommended” “Definitely worth reading” “A wonderfully nuanced novel” “Five quills” “Very strongly recommended” “Definitely worth reading”