The Hero's Journey

In 1988, Joseph Campbell became one of the world's most recognized experts on mythology, heroes, and quests. He identified archetypes in myth, religion, and psychology that are shared by cultures down through the centuries and around the world.
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In '88, PBS broadcast a series of interviews with him, conducted by journalist Bill Moyers, called "The Power of Myth." Campbell died in 1987, but the PBS series exposed his ideas about the hero's journey to millions of viewers. The directors of the "Star Wars" and "Lord of the Rings" films were influenced by Campbell's theories.
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During the membership drive that accompanied the broadcast, you could buy the entire six episodes on videotape for a certain donation. I did.
A few days ago, I wrote a poem about that situation.



Joseph Campbell Is My Hero


Only the resting cats
sphinxlike on the floor
show moderate curiosity
in their half-lidded eyes.

Joseph Campbell on TV
and his theories of mythology
fly through the air into my
brain and I finally understand

what makes me tick,
a chore you long ago
abandoned in favor of the
secretary half your age.

While you sleep the rest
of the righteous I’ve pledged
$500 to receive the whole collection
of Joseph Campbell myths

a strange extravagance in light
of the blood on your plastic
Visa card and the scarlet spatters
on our yellow kitchen floor.

I have drawn first blood
in this battle, as I fling my wrist:
take that, you monstrous fridge:
take that, you sly old sink.

Joseph Campbell loves me
more than you do. The cats
know this and as I slide from
this reality, they wink at me.