Postcard Aphrodite
1.
Ouranos leaned and pinched her nipples
Gaia forgot her sons lay in ambush
Even before he detached his thighs flanking the mountains her limbs arched for the meeting
Half swooning for his eyes leisurely grazing
It was not a memory had never occurred
He was always so testy (sons can be so crazy)
Recurrent dreams of a blade slicing his neck his blood seeding her body
When they sliced his testicles instead
His hands full on her breasts
Jerked a seizure
She ejaculated disbelief
Ouranos drained
Gaia sank
2.
Bright downward slash above
Ruddy Ocean below what
Remains of Sky
His pouches open paratroopers
Be anxious it's
Messy out there -
Wind reluctant
Waves nervous
Then laugh o how
Indifferent wave
Of average height &
No distinction
Lands the prize
3.
Recall that other time when the leaky punk Raktabija 'bloodseed' battled Kali
The more she hacked the more he sprouted
Then Tongue stretched
Between Earth and Sky
Licked each drop
As it fell
4.
Fresh froth breaks
Bubbles on speed
Champagne-solemn
Water animates
Hands breasts waist
Crimped hair
Signature
Exactly when does she
Express her face
Translucent sea-squiggle
Aphrodite
Okeanos marks the moment
With a pause
Every wave rises
Reflects
Aphrodite gallery
5.
What is Aphrodite made of?
The impossible desire
Carried by Rivers
Buried in Ocean
You and I know it is memory Gaia's
Aphrodite has none
Of one parent
Un-conflicted
She heads for America
6.
One hundred and fifty feet stature
Shipwrecked hero
Face of commander
Beached on Ellis
Plankton-stained
Gulliver comes to mind
Little people probe her
Robe her
Hand her a torch
Hoist her on a pedestal
And crown her Statue Liberty
Poised since then
Open oyster shell
Desire . Liberty
FĂȘted
1.
What does Odysseus do when
the Odyssey is done
Memory's man, house on fire
The story ate it all
Back from Iraq
Busy being a shape
A guard
Sleeps in the old bed
Dines the old way
Visitors none
The front hall scrubbed clean
All of Ithaca's young men
chatting in Hades
It's all about the oil they say
Finite fire
Odysseus, son of Laertes, father of Telemachus,
husband of constant Penelope, family man
A long night
One half in a dream, the other half
awake thinking about it
Over and over again, of Helen,
to the countrywomen
To the one-eyed scarecrow
in the fields said Nobody
2.
Another war-veteran Prometheus
Dented
De-fizzed
Rocket to space-junk
fell
Wayward washing
Ragged upon the crags
Flooded by the moon a startled thief
From the day he is engorged and cannot hide
Till the day he is mute and will not show
In the shadow of the eagle he sees keeping watch
A luscious rested tongue
And thirsts for it
3.
Bheeshma chooses when to die
After farewells, speeches and a drink
Last man standing, Yudhistira, has
a friend, a dog
The rest are soldiers, trees
Armor
Leaves
Star tips
End of day survivors
count spaces at the table
Face down at the bottom of that trench
Lots of hands and legs
4.
A child-minotaur branded monster
Thrown in a maze
Expect a labyrinth
A story
Alone uncastrated public object Minotaur
awaits a hero
We want a dizzying battle
Dodge! light-footed Theseus
Minotaur froths
Prisoner on d-day
5.
Arjuna retorts:
What do you know, Krishna,
what it is to be human?
Infant, on your knees
Excruciating waiting on teeth
From alphabet-soup to the world
Pregnant, determinate uterus
Milk in your breasts
Sleeping Dreaming
Two hands, two legs
Breath, bowels
Decrepit in the mirror
What do you know, Krishna