Poetry Visualized

CAVAFY IN CARMEL

Is there anything more embarrassing

Than the tell-tale wreckage of love

The morning after?

My accomplice and I might smile,

But an intruder's smirk

Would make me blush.

He struck me at first sight--classic form,

Eternal youth, such thoughtless beauty,

A careless gesture.

At once I felt the urge to grab, to hide,

To weep, to pee, to die, to bite,

To shout for joy.

As Alexander I'd have bribed him,

Made metal, marble sing this warrior's praise

And be his slave.

Mid-glance his eyes pierced mine.

I felt redeemed. He saw right through me

And turned away.

His face was on my pillow last night.

(His downy cheek against my scratchy chin.

Encircled in my arms,

In that other world we seek to conquer

All night my love was mine.)

How the feathers flew!