LEDA AND THE SWAN

(For WBY)

A sudden glow! She staggers before
She faints under the shadowy settling claws;
Her eyes moon in blissful terror, face
To brutish bill; entranced, her lips
Upon the marble-cold. The thighs
In naked need press against the web’s
Primal touch, vague fingers push away
The silence he engenders there, unshuddering.

And she lay in the vast grip of stillness,
Restored to virginity, her mind
A vacant space, gaping at the void
Curdling spill, live as blood, cells receiving
The violent hush, crying out his name
And his name still, begging for the word.