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# In His Prime
- URL: https://www.hawkword.com/poetry/in-his-prime/
- Published: 2022-12-07T12:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2022-12-07T12:00:00.000Z
- Description: Priam, back when in his prime quite a formidable ruler Troy's great walls, too hard to climb in antiquity, few cooler but like many dads who dote thought his sons above all censure Helen, what an anecdote love -- a wo...
- Author: A. Gee
- Tags: Poetry, Allpoetry Import, #Import 2026-04-25 19:56

Priam, back when in his prime  
quite a formidable ruler  
Troy's great walls, too hard to climb  
in antiquity, few cooler  
but like many dads who dote  
thought his sons above all censure  
Helen, what an anecdote  
love -- a wonderful adventure

when Greek ships arrived at dawn  
he at first refused believing  
ten years later, with them gone  
still in mourning and still grieving  
he fell for a wooden horse  
now a sucker for the ages  
had he sent her back, of course  
better treatment from the sages

they might call him harsh, but shrewd  
make him less a tragic figure  
when it comes to Hollywood  
they would cast him younger, bigger  
but would Schliemann come to dig  
if Troy had a happy ending?  
Likely so. It was his gig.  
And the walls, they bear defending.