issue 30 > poetry > kress

Let him see you naked, let him possess your body.
When he comes near, take off your clothes and lie down with him.
Teach the savage man the arts of love that women know,
and when he whispers love back to you, all those wild beasts
he lived among will reject him. Take his eagerness
and make it last a week—until he forgets his home,
so seeing him, gazelles will bolt and wild creatures flee,
his legs as if bound by chains from constant thought of you.
And ask him then, why he’d ever want to leave your side,
to wander the hills like a wild creature, like a beast?
Take him with you to the walled city, to the Temple
of Ishtar and Anu of love and heaven. And there
he will meet Gilgamesh, moody and handsome and strong.






Also by Leonard Kress:

The Rig Veda