Naked, prance through Coventry

My Lady, Godiva
My Lady: Word came down through odd channels,
spewed from the rumor mills like an omen
of terrible aspect . . . Some speak of old sin,
others claim this and that. Through thin panels
I hear them in the public house—annals
sung by curs too low to beg your name, men
with less honor even than—Oh, but then
their [...]

Bondage Love

These Bonds of Love
He’s the archetypical hero. She
always bound by chains only he can break.
It raises questions: Who bound her, what rake
or tyrant leaves a naked woman free
to run naked in chains? Why from the sea;
always an ocean journey, seaside jailbreak
as though one could find bound girls for the sake
of cruising any coast . . [...]

Age & Beauty

Too Long I Left You Waiting
We met beside the well outside that town
down by the river; I, pale mockery
of a poet, you tall in flowing gown
and fine leather sandals. My lechery
is at least sincere . . . your beauty astounds
me even now, your sweet melancholy
plucks this harp that is my poet’s heart
and calls me lines [...]

Slaves to Passion

Why Buy?
Never really understood the allure
of owning another person; why want
a slave? Even for an hour? What impure
impulse to wish such power, wish to flaunt
one’s need for control by means of coin when
will alone won’t suffice? Coercion won’t
fulfill that wish for interdependence,
nor will all your money buy love—what whores
sell is nothing but release, liberation
from relationship [...]

Temptress

Meditation on Her Bust
Raised a Southern gentleman, I’m obliged
somewhat to euphemize these sentiments,
oh alabaster goddess. Rudiments
and archetypes of Love coil, and are pledged,
in those ivory hills (it might be alleged
yet that I am a scoundrel), torrents
of allure grace soft lips, curving laments
from mothers lost to sons astray and hedged
all ‘round with Biblical pitfalls, and yet
we [...]

Drowned in Beauty

I Almost Drowned
Spring, and the water lilies were in bloom,
so I took my Grecian urn down pondside
to fill with water for my hyacinths
and Labradors. What a delight to find
seven maids swimming naked and brazen
in spring’s mad equinox. And yet . . . oh pale-
fleshed goddesses, how can mortal choose one
beauty’s epitome from others? I
could not! [...]

Desert Nude

Wandering in the Wilderness . . .
It was a boyhood fantasy, coming
across a bare-breasted beauty in some
deserted place where she might rely on me
to rescue her, and her all willing
to reward my capable action with
tenderness and something undefined . . .
 
But now a man, I find myself here
in this deserted place, with this bare-
breasted young [...]

Wild

 
My Wild Love
Must have been the wine . . . can’t seem to recall
how I found you there, lying naked on
a spread out leopard skin, or at least
something patterned that way. Oh, and that
convenient golden sash. But mostly
I recall the haunting challenge of boredom
in bedroom eyes, at once sad and longing.
The pout of your [...]

Scenic Park

Walk in the Park
A lot of things can change in a century;
parks seem to be one of those things—
and museums. Take this painting for example;
when is the last time you took a walk in the park
and found a nude woman? Or the last time
you saw a nude woman? With a skull?
With a cross? With both? [...]

Temptation

Temptation
I never knew Eve. Never spent time in her
garden or orchard. Any Eden, for that matter.
But I loved her from the time of my first
erection, first hint of manhood. My heroine
not because she gave the fruit to Adam,
not because she was the Matriarch of Rebellion,
nor because she blamed the serpent—
Because she opened the true gate
to [...]