Sandro Boticelli, c1485
Awake now. Remember our love

in the shade of a wild myrtle forest.

Your red, silk pallium softens our bed

of bracken and leaf. The air is cool here,

broken by swallow song and the hum

of wasps that swarm and crown

your abundant hair. I study your ecstatic

slumber-a sole crease of brow, an easy

parting of lips, your brave span of chest.

I want the burn of your eyes, the brine

of your skin. Far from bloodshed

and the din of battle, you abandon it all:

your lance, cuirass and beloved blue helmet.

Naked and fearless you surrender to me.

A little death that strands you oblivious

to lewd taunts of drunken satyrs. Fat bellied

with goat leg and horn they thieve, thrust

and sound a conch but still you do not stir.

This is no time for sleep. Gather your strength.

For I am your bright star and when you wake
I will ruin you again.