Three Poems

The Arming
(a version from Beowulf)

Indifferent to life,
I withdrew into a shell
Of metal, my shirt
A miracle of crocheted iron,
My heart sounded
In its curdled halls,
My brain excelled
In its silver academy.
I was multi-smithied
Into a walking treasure,
Wonderfully made,
A whole troop, I stood
Like the city of gold,
Or the wind-ranged,
Ocean-hammered cliffs
...