Apollo Felled.

The axe blows at Apollo’s trunk
Reveal innumerable age rings,
Condensed like lines of verse.
The spilt sap is pure metaphor.

The Aged Apollo

The aged Apollo, his arthritic knuckles
Knotted and gnarled like a tree’s roots,
Struggles down from his throne each day
To sit in the shade of the evergreen Bay.

James Holden is a writer working across the critical-creative divide. He is a specialist in British and European culture from the birth of Chopin in 1810 to the death of Monet in 1926. His published work includes In Search of Vinteuil: Music, Literature and a Self Regained (Sussex Academic Press, 2010). James also writes experimental prose and poetry.

His website is www.culturalwriter.co.uk

He tweets as @CulturalWriter