Poems

How are you, Your Eminence?
Very well, and you?
Can't complain...

Aphrodite, see through nightie
in possession of both hands
although Venus, just between us
is more popular with fans
same old goddess, ample bodice
is it love or is it lust
none wear nylon but De Milo
cuts a more impressive bust

bright city lights, bridge hanging in the air
the Hudson glows below, absorbs their shadows
its seen its share of wonders, done, been there
when glacial melt first cut it from the shallows
and now it lies in wait, that old man river
the city waiting too: will God forgive her

Author notes: image from unsplash.com

Moses poses with the tablets
note the absence of fine print
simple rules: you'll find that God lets
you be good, no need to squint
all those other regulations
in the end are much ado
treating others as your brothers
as you wish that they would you

up on the stage a tenor, Nessun Dorma
the set a modern wonder, Turandot
if I could but remember the performer...
remembering the flowers I forgot
remembering  the frigid intermission
the spent champagne and chocolates on a plate
you made excuses, needing no permission
lust, mixing in with guilt; bell says we're late

no longer a duet, more a parlante
each part distinct, but sticking to the script
our rendezvous a scandal, in flagrante
devoid of feeling, naked, bare and stripped
a wanton thrust, a breathless, heaving bosom
no, not at all a coupling, more a  sting
the minimum required for a twosome
up on the stage, the lady starts to sing

Author notes: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turandot https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWc7vYjgnTs image from a Turandot Set at the Metropolitan Opera

Staring at the full moon: "must be full of wonders!"
Leaning on the old oak, as he sits and ponders
and the oak? Though rugged, it gets sentimental
Bark too rough for hugging, but its soul is gentle

Author notes: image from dreamstime.com

can't see the forest for this tree
most likely it's from Target
the section that is "almost" free
for lights, you'd have to charge it
one cringes to be near it...
begone, thy Hallmark spirit!

Author notes: image from reddit.com

that old Caesar though a geezer
Julius to be exact
Cleopatra knew her tantra
truly expert in the act
clearly Caesar had to seize her
her a heir of Ptolemy
when together, he would bed her
had no time for polemy

Mark was younger, real hunger
lost, though, to Octavian
both proconsuls knew her tonsils
(that was a bit Shavian)
queen of Egypt, not to be gipped
came quite close to empress
ask the sages through the ages
she continues to impress

Priam, back when in his prime
quite a formidable ruler
Troy's great walls, too hard to climb
in antiquity, few cooler
but like many dads who dote
thought his sons above all censure
Helen, what an anecdote
love -- a wonderful adventure

when Greek ships arrived at dawn
he at first refused believing
ten years later, with them gone
still in mourning and still grieving
he fell for a wooden horse
now a sucker for the ages
had he sent her back, of course
better treatment from the sages

they might call him harsh, but shrewd
make him less a tragic figure
when it comes to Hollywood
they would cast him younger, bigger
but would Schliemann come to dig
if Troy had a happy ending?
Likely so. It was his gig.
And the walls, they bear defending.

if your sole purpose
is to decorate a tree
think yourself a fruit

Author notes: Image from pixabay.com

as to Ajax -- no professor
here my knowledge's somewhat thinner
one is greater, one is lesser
neither one a household cleaner
second fiddle to Achilles
Telamonian was great
and the lesser's chief appeal is
in his name, at any rate

future plotters: when name matters
do attempt to randomize
I'll let Tolkien do the talkin'
Sauron, Saruman's demise

Dionysus knew no crisis
that you couldn't cure with wine
nicknamed Bacchus, hella ruckus
every time he came to dine

god of spirit, won't come near it
joined a self-help group instead
you may chortle -- the immortal
doesn't want to wined up dead