Max Gutmann

Cressida Without Troilus  
    From Seeing Things

Fair Cressid's life in camp was one long bore, 
Her father always wandering off to pray,
The other men off battling in the war,
And no one to discuss things with all day 
But slave girls, which was rather déclassé.
So why not leave? Well that's, as questions go, 
An easy one to answer: I don't know. 

Perhaps that quick departure'd hurt her dad
(Which sometimes felt quite right, and sometimes pained) 
And knowing this was all the time they had
Together were ideas which restrained
Her flight from camp. Or maybe she remained
Because it was, despite her perturbation,
As near as she could get to a vacation. 

Whatever were her reasons, she decided
That she could bear the Grecian camp ten days, 
Resigned herself to stick it out, and bided
The daylight hours counting out the ways
(To requisition Barrett-Browning's phrase)
She loved her man — a lot, but even so,
She found it helpful if she counted slow. 

Max Gutmann has contributed to dozens of publications including New Statesman, Able Muse, and Cricket. His plays have appeared throughout the U.S. and have been well-reviewed (see maxgutmann.com). His book There Was a Young Girl from Verona sold several copies. This poem is an excerpt from Seeing Things, a long, comic narrative poem which tells the Troilius and Cressida story, focusing on Cressida’s father, the seer Calchas.