from (C)OVID'S METAMORPHOSIS, Book the Third



The Story of Pentheus

The train left the station 
trailing its former forms behind,
its centipedal force bringing
everything full circle before 
the organisms on board had begun
to come to terms with
their mortality.  A moral quandary
would commence if a billionaire
was tied upon the tracks & left
to the mercy of the engineer 
with the neck tattoos.  
Meet the new god, same 
as the dog that bit you 
when the wind blew in 
from the future.  There’s something 
in the air tonight; put your ear 
to the ground & the mask 
upon your face. 

The Mariners Transform’d to Dolphins

I thought the drinking & kidnapping 
would never begin, 
for I had purchased this purple,
paisleyed vest on eBay for just such an occasion. 
But then my name was stricken 
from every pylon, every obelisk.  The pharaoh
never met a metaphor he couldn’t mangle. 
He’ll oil behind his ears just as the earth
is destroyed to make way for a hyperspace bypass.
Crawling through the desert 
to the Castle Anthrax.  A goat among sheep,
fear my quarterstick & my Cloak of Rugs.
Bathe me in expensive balms
while I wag my caudal
for cash.

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from (C)OVID'S METAMORPHOSIS, Book the Fifth

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