issue 24 > light verse > schechter

There are three things my captive heart
    forever dotes upon:
beautiful Inez, smoked ham, 
   and eggplant parmesan.
Oh lovers, it was sweet Inez
   whose power over me
was such I actually despised
    whatever was not she.
She made me senseless for a year.
    In truth, I was far gone,
until one day she served me ham
    and eggplant parmesan.
Inez was first to win my heart,
    but now I'd be hard-pressed
to choose among the three of them
    the one I love the best.
In taste, proportion, and in weight,
    I've nothing to go on:
I love Inez, I love smoked ham, 
    and eggplant parmesan.
Inez can boast of beauty,
    the ham of Southern Spain,
the tender aubergine can boast
    of Spanish soil and rain.
The competition is so close,
    no winner can be drawn.
They all are one. Inez, the ham,
   the eggplant parmesan.
At least, now that she knows that I
    love other things as deeply,
Inez might sell me favors much
    more often and more cheaply,
since there is now a counterweight
   for her to reckon on:
a luscious slab of Spanish ham
    and eggplant parmesan.   






translation previously published in The Raintown Review






Also by Robert Schechter:

Dame Rhetoric
The Thought I Thinkt
Starting