Poem – Crimean Punishment (By Ray Gallucci)

CRIMEAN PUNISHMENT

 

Apparently,once the gods had fumed

Atgrowing decadence, they were doomed.

Nolonger culture pre-eminent,

Atlantisunder the sea was sent.

 

Competingtheories have been put forth

Ofancient civilization north

Ofwhere the Black Sea has always lain

Ononce quite fertile Crimean plain.

 

Onefaction claims Plato had it right –

Atlantisvanished in just one night

Whenearthquake cracked geologic flaw

Releasingdeluge from Ice Age thaw.[1]

 

Wherenow the Sea of Azov is found,

Theland subsided and water drowned

Whenrushed from Caspian to Black Sea

Atninety-six centuries B.C.

 

Theother faction agrees with place,

Butcites an alternate means and age.

‘Twaswaters Mediterranean

Thatruptured Bosporus’ isthmus dam.[2]

 

Fivethousand summers of glacial melt

Engorgedthe oceans until they swelled

Three-fourthsof ten thousand years ago[3]

WhileBlack Sea swallowed the overflow.

 

Unlikewhat’s proffered from seismic blast,

Submergencewouldn’t have been so fast.

Onceseas were rising, they’d have prepared

Toget themselves far away from there.

 

Ofthese two theories, I’d choose the first

Ascatastrophically much the worse,

Forlegends often are based on fact,

Andwhat’s Atlantean that’s intact?

 

---

[1]       See “The GreatAtlantis Flood,” by Leon Flying Eagle and Mary Whispering Wind, at http://atlantis-today.com.

[2]       See “Atlantis inthe Black Sea,” by Siegfired G. Schoppe and Christian M. Schoppe, at http://www.black-sea-atlantis.com.

[3]       2000 A.D. – 7500 = 5500 B.C.

 

About Ray Gallucci: I am a Professional Engineer who has been writing poetry since 1990. I am an incorrigible rhymer, tending toward the skeptical/cynical regarding daily life. I have been fortunate to have been published in poetry magazines and on-line journals such as NUTHOUSE, MOTHER EARTH INTERNATIONAL, FEELINGS/POETS’ PAPER, MÖBIUS (when Jean Hull Herman published), PABLO LENNIS, MUSE OF FIRE, SO YOUNG!, THE AARDVARK ADVENTURER, POETIC LICENSE, THUMBPRINTS, UNLIKELY STORIES, BIBLIOPHILOS, FULLOSIA PRESS, NOMAD’S CHOIR, HIDDEN OAK, PABLO LENNIS, POETSESPRESSO, SOUL FOUNTAIN, WRITER’S JOURNAL, ATLANTIC PACIFIC PRESS, DERONDA REVIEW, LYRIC, THE STORYTELLER, WRITE ON! and DANA LITERARY SOCIETY.