Thor's Hammer

Thor's Hammer

by Colleen Anderson

Always a case of overcompensation
his mighty thews, sunspun hair
never enough, a surfer, jock
in his father’s all-seeing eye
and Loki, always Loki whispering uncertainties
the slacker tech dude to the athlete

So Thor threw his hammer
as far as he could
slammed it in frustration
into mountains and Norn’s heads
Some day when his fury is spent
the blood and sinew dried
when he’s not cracking open heaven
Mjolnir will return to him subdued
Perhaps he will learn the gentler side
of a hammer of the gods
for humans have mastered its humbler trade

Thor may then take up the cause
use Mjolnir to beat metal
form a shell oft called armor
where he may dwell secure in godly might
untouched by parental ridicule
sibling rivalry
or the questing mortal touch

* * *

Colleen Anderson has had over 170 poems published in such venues as Grievous Angel, Polu Texni, The Future Fire, HWA Poetry Showcase and many others. She is a member of HWA and SFPA and a Canada Council and BC Arts Council grant recipient for writing. She has performed her work before audiences in the US, UK and Canada and has placed in the Balticon, Rannu, Crucible and Wax poetry competitions. Colleen has also edited several anthologies. www.colleenanderson.wordpress.com

Where do you get the ideas for your poems? From all over but often from myths and fairy tales. “Thor’s Hammer” is from a series I wrote (am still writing) on magical objects. Other poems from this series include “Tooth Fairy’s Pouch,” “Snow White’s Apple,” and “Cinderella’s Pumpkin” for example.

What do you think is the most important aspect of a fantasy poem? To take the tale somewhere new. It might be a perspective, a twist in the tale or a world so breathtakingly different that you want or hesitate to explore it deeper.

What do you think is the attraction of the fantasy genre? Sometimes it is to escape or give our lives a rest from the every day, to break us out of feeling the same old same old. But fantasy allows us to delve into subjects in ways that does not point a finger at any particular group. Fantasy and fairy tales have often been precautionary tales. It allows us to step back with a different lens, to view this new thought and then let it settle into us.