Antaios

Antaios of old was a son of Earth,
A brutal Titan who challenged all
Who crossed his path, and with the power
His mother gave him, murdered them,

Until another brutish killer,
Wearing the skin of an earlier kill,
Was told by a goddess to hold him aloft.
Lion-clad Herakles strangled the giant.

Easy the path of martial might,
Well-signposted, trodden by millions.
Our Antaios was a pioneer,
Carving a new road in a new land.

In early Calafia, when fighting was all,
He set himself a role of peace.
He wove together a hundred elements,
And sealed the weave with martyrdom.

Perhaps that's why he changed his name,
That bore such a weight of hatefulness.
A statesman of peace, a friend to all:
"Leodamas" suits better his legacy.

—Calafia
8/8-10/2002
a.d. 6 Id. Aug. 2755