Greco-Roman Circle

My Escape

(Horace, Carmina I, v "Quis multa gracilis te puer in rosa...")

What graceful half-god embraces you,
crushing you on heaps of roses?
Have you caught him with artless curls?
He'll come to tears over you.
He'll dive into your eyes' black seas
to drown where others have.  Too bad
your eyes are deeper than your soul.
I was luckier.  I got away.
Shipwrecked Romans come safe to shore
offered plaques and their sea-soaked tunics
to thank the ocean.  I scrawled my thanks
on a bathhouse wall and left my jeans
in a puddle in a shower stall.

Next Poem:  "Adapted from Anacreon # 51"
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Updated last on:  2001/05/24