new poems after a long drought
Spent a leisure afternoon at Galleria Borghese and saw some human faces -- carved in stone -- that gave me pause... There was Bernini's David, biting his lip in keen determination to land five smooth stones on his chosen target. And I recall that lip-biting determination 'cause I have bit that lip once or twice... And Pauline Bonaparte, resting reflectively on a mattress of marble whose flowing wrinkles and living indentations show the slight weight of the subject in dynamic detail. And look, there's Daphne fleeing Apollo, preferring to turn into a tree, rather than live the life of an object of passioned pursuit. Apollo, uncaring, feels her heart still beating as her flesh turns to bark, as her arms become branches. Hermaphrodite, lying in repose, hiding her passion and her bisexed parts. And finally, perhaps Bernini's greatest work of art -- Aeneas and Anchises. Sadly, I know homeless Anchises' look of worry. And sadly, I know fleeing Aeneas' burden. Sadly, s...