Europa's Letter

Shy animal
ancient white Leviathan bull,
heavy sinews holding still:
I think I knew that you were ZEUS
and stroked your coat whispering
'‘Bull, come off it,
I see through your disguise,” just as
Beauty sighed to Beast
Va, le magnifiqm,va ouje vais ...

The scent of undomesticated skin
is innocent. I caught a whiff on you
when we ran into
the spring wind. Horns honked where geese
did once; your grace saved us.
My sweet, you didn’t strip to Zeus
until we crossed a sea embracing salt
and rocking.

But now I can’t exactly say
what happened yesterday.
We lay, not inert, but nearly so;
your salty fur, now flesh,
heavy on my own.
We weren’t alone
but never quite together either.
I was really scared.

The matter in your head pressed
next to mine: a different matter
than my own pressed next to yours.
I wanton and you wanting what?
Men to women are mysteries
and as for gods to mortals . . .
Well, f loved the flesh,
your shaded smile.

Now I would rather Hera turn me
to a heifer than sec you say
good-bye again like that:
shy, lying, sorry, glad.
My response, produced in a flash,
rivers of giggling jargon,
inconsequential to an immortal.

And today I woke up thinking
it’s time to get married
or pregnant at least. Out here
alone on the island of Crete.