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January 15th, 2026
by Dean Monaghan
Verse 1
Once upon the sands of time,
The words of Solon, Socrates, and Plato echoed to the present day like grains of quartz, so fine,
And beyond the pillars of Hercules did emerge the vast continent of Atlantis in the year 11,600 BC,
The continent was larger than ancient Libya and Asia Minor (known today as Turkey) combined, exactly four thousand miles in diameter.
Verse 2
Plato told the story millenia later, around 360 BC, as follows:
Atlantis was made and protected by the god Poseidon who made his son Atlas, King, and namesake of the island and ocean,
Atlantis was arranged in concentric islands separated by wide moats and linked by a canal that penetrated to the center,
Poseidon carved the mountain ranges where his love, Cleito, dwelled, and enclosed it with three circular moats of increasing width,
varying from one to three stadia and separated by rings of land proportional in size.
Verse 3
Atlantis consisted mostly of mountain ranges in the north and along the shores and encompassed a great plain in an oblong shape in the south,
extending in one direction about 555 km, and across the center inland it was about 370 km,
At 9 km from the coast was a mountain range that was low on all sides and broke off all-round (previous volcanic activity probably),
The central island itself was about 0.92 km in diameter.
Verse 4
The Atlanteans then built bridges northward from the mountains, making a route to the rest of the island,
They dug a great canal to the sea,
They built bridges and carved tunnels into the rings of the rock so that ships could pass into the city around the mountain range,
They carved docks from the rock walls of the moats.
Verse 5
Every passage to the city was guarded by gates and towers,
A wall surrounded each ring of the city – the walls were constructed of red, white, and black rock quarried from the moats,
and were covered with brass, tin, and the precious metals gold, silver, and orichalcum,
The rich verdant continent supported exotic wildlife of every kind,
The mighty Atlanteans, an advanced utopian civilization, ruled over several countries in Asia, Africa, and Europe.
Verse 6
Atlantean engineers were technically accomplished and ahead of their time,
Their architecture was extravagant with plumbing, saunas, baths, harbor installations, barracks, and the biggest tower in the known world,
The central plain outside the city had canals, water features, and a magnificent irrigation system to distribute water to all,
Atlantis had sages (seven of them), kings, civil administrators, an organized military, and a well-oiled naval presence.
Verse 7
Atlanteans had rituals for bull baiting, sacrifice, and prayers –
Atlantis's downfall was that a moral, spiritual, highly advanced empire became greedy, petty,
and morally bankrupt and ultimately launched an imperialistic war on Asian, African, and European continents,
A David (Greece) versus Goliath (Atlantis) battle unfolded where the winner would take all the spoils,
After the battle, there was a massive tsunami, earthquakes, and a cataclysmic flood,
and Atlantis sank into the sea and became an impassable mud shoal – inhibiting all ocean travel,
In a 24-hour period, one night and day, Atlantis was gone, forever sent to the depths of speculation, folklore, myth, and legend.
About the Poet
Dean Monaghan resides in Skerries, County Dublin, Ireland.
Read the poet's biography and Wax Poetry and Art publications
on Dean Monaghan's Artist Page.
This poem is also featured in Comet #7, published in the Wax Poetry and Art Library.
Keywords: mythology, mother nature, scholars, atlantis
Previously published in Dublin Poetry Magazine:
Sunsets in Alhambra
by Patrick O'Donoghue
Dublin Poetry Magazine is part of the Wax Poetry and Art Network.
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