Senex and Puer

SS Rotterdam

The skyscrapers roar and rest.
The river snakes between the spires
With supreme self-consciousness.
Sun. Tinsel. Da da doo.

The hulk of an ocean liner
Breaks away from its berth.
An angel lifts gingerly
From a rooftop helicopter pad.

The ship steams into its future
But is destined to meet its past
In the shape of an older sibling.
An empty carcass but still vibrant.

Three massive massive honks on the junior’s horn.
The senex resignedly, triumphantly, reciprocates.
I am here. Always have been.
At your service.

"The puer takes its drive and goal literally unless there is reflection, which makes possible a metaphorical understanding of its drive and goal. By bearing witness as the receptive experiencer and imager of the spirit’s actions, the soul can contain, nourish, and elaborate in fantasy the puer impulse, bring it sensuousness and depth, involve it in life’s delusions, care for it for better or for worse. Then the individual in whom these two components are marrying begins to carry with him his own reflective mirror and echo."

-- James Hillman, Senex & Puer