The Libertarian

Libidinous Liberty

Some called him rogue, others less courteous

names. Some compared him to Don Juan,

others Don Juan to him. Wine, women,

song and the never-ending beauty of roses

he thought were the sole lusts of life.

The hunt is not for the kill, but for the hunt.

He delighted in catching, but only having

fully experienced the luscious, heady

drunkenness of the chase of the chaste.

Each pleasure he knew, he shared, though

few were they who appreciated such

clandestine delights as he did. It taught him

life’s most abstract lessons. By autumn,

his silvering hair weighed to shoulders

bent over praying hands in a monastery

where wine and weeping were his only

vices, women being a sport of the younger

gents. Now, at half past forty, he trades

sword for crosier, love for Love, and chase

for chaste. Still, ever he revels in the wine!

David M Pitchford
29 April 2008