So Leda coaxed the king of gods to smile
and Helen lured one thousand brawling ships
while Cleopatra stirred the conquered Nile
to whet a lofty empire's low eclipse.
Those legendary beauties wear the fault
of static art denied the bruise of life
whereby a fleshy woman gives assault
to lustful men who seek a matching wife
with all the deficits that sweeten sense
like odors of the sodden earth and sand
tipped hands that stroke and drum and tissues dense
with lipid glands that yield as lips demand.
Imagined beauty is mere copy of
your living grace that draws my lasting love.