The Collected Writings of Brian J. Mueller
A single poem, met at the right moment, can change a life.
Search and read all 1,834 pieces by Brian J. Mueller — 1,675 poems, 38 prose pieces, and 121 haiku from 12 published volumes. Free to read and share.
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Browse the Twelve Volumes
Brian’s collected pieces, volume by volume.
Parthenon
There remains a significant part of the Parthenon
piled on the rocks of the Acropolis
in the land called Greece.
Through two millennia the gulls have watched human empires rise and fall,
while ever-so-slowly Athena’s temple returns to dust.
The Parthenon has no natural enemies,
yet it cannot resist the elements, nor the acid rain.
So the government has taken up preservation,
hoping to prevail against those forces
which would separate the ancient structure
into the very atoms from which it was built.
Surely the architects of the Parthenon thought their structure
would last an eternity.
Perhaps Athena herself was charged to protect it.
Even so I wonder,
what constitutes forever in the minds of mortal men and women?
Every great builder,
whether she creates with her body, mind or soul,
knows nothing born into this world
can withstand the forces of demolition,
delivered with each heartbeat of a loving God.