Infidelity
Zeus always introduces himself
As one who needs stitching
Back together with kisses.
Like a rock star in leather
& sapphires—conflagration
& a trick of silk falling
Between lost chances & never
Again. His disguises are almost
Mathematical, as Io & Europa
Pass from their dreams into his.
This lord of storm clouds
Is also a sun god crooning desire
& dalliance in a garden of nymphs.
Some days, he loves gloxinia,
& others, craves garlic blooms—
Hera, Aegina, & Callisto in the same song.
Copyright Credit: Yusef Komunyakaa, “Infidelity” from Talking Dirty to the Gods. Copyright © 2000 by Yusef Komunyakaa. Used by permission of Farrar, Straus & Giroux, LLC, http://us.macmillan.com/fsg. All rights reserved.
Source: Talking Dirty to the Gods (Farrar Straus and Giroux, 2000)