Anachronisms
By Laurence Overmire
He should have been born in another age
In another place, another time
The lord of some castle, or a wayfaring knight
A man of honor and distinction
With a lover’s weeping heart
Intent to set some maiden free
For he cared too much, you see
He believed in truth
In justice, and in life
But he heard the children cry
When others told him not to listen
And when he tried to speak himself
They slapped a dollar on his wrist
Only the knife they found beside him
Could stab that dollar from his mind.
By Laurence Overmire
He should have been born in another age
In another place, another time
The lord of some castle, or a wayfaring knight
A man of honor and distinction
With a lover’s weeping heart
Intent to set some maiden free
For he cared too much, you see
He believed in truth
In justice, and in life
But he heard the children cry
When others told him not to listen
And when he tried to speak himself
They slapped a dollar on his wrist
Only the knife they found beside him
Could stab that dollar from his mind.
Laurence Overmire makes his intentions very clear from the start in his poem, Anachronisms. It is about a man who did not fit into the time period in which he was born. He had character traits which are much harder to see in people today. There is no doubt that Overmire's poem references anachronisms, but parts of the poem strongly relate to Julius Caesar. Both Brutus and the subject of the poem were "[men] of honor and distinction" (Overmire). In Julius Caesar Antony makes it known just how honorable Brutus was. In fact, Brutus also "believed in truth; in justice, and in life (Overmire). Most of the traits shared by Brutus and the subject of the poem eventually led to their downfalls.
Laurence Overmire , known to many for his work as Poet-In-Residence on The Jeff Farias Show, has had a multi-faceted career as poet, author, actor, director, educator and genealogist. His award-winning poetry, eclectic in form, style, and subject matter, and often provocative in its direct confrontation of social issues, has been widely published in the U.S. and abroad in hundreds of magazines, journals, and anthologies.
Teymur, Ekrem. “Anachronism.” PoemHunter. N.p., 1 Jan. 2004.