In a tulle tutu on a tightrope,
In lights cataractine, incendiary,
She arrives as in flight from a vespiary,
An epic of thews to recite rote.
With all the aplomb of a kitharode
Taking aim at the heart of a misanthrope,
She plucks with her toes at the thyrsus,
And men are aroused, swine of Circe’s
She taunts in the throes of the circus.
Lust afoot,
Love oblique,
Couples knit
Knots unique;
Careening affianced through curses,
Intent reverential reverses;
The shortening distance is merciless;
One’s will, one’s resistance grows weak…
Only grasp that musculature speak:
Tension is fate, momentum inertia;
Hawsers taut, taught to traverse will
Prove this aerialist universal.
Cataractine – (Pronounced ka-ta-RAK-tin) Like a waterfall.
Vespiary – (Pronounced VES-pē-ary) A nest of wasps.
Thews – (Pronounced thyūz, th as in “thin”) Muscles.
Kitharode – (Pronounced KITH-a-rōd) A player of the kithara (also called a cithara, pronounced SITH‑a‑ra), an ancient Greek musical instrument similar to the lyre.
Thyrsus – (Pronounced THIR-sus, th as in “thin”) A pole, covered with ivy and topped by a pinecone or grapes and berries, that was carried by the god Dionysus (Bacchus) and his followers in orgiastic rites.
Swine of Circe’s – In the Odyssey, Circe (pronounced SIR-see) was a sorceress who turned Odysseus’s companions into swine through a magic potion.
Affianced – (Pronounced a-FĪ-anst) Pledged to marry, betrothed.
Traverse – (Pronounced tra-VERSE) To go over, to extend across.