fighting over beauty
men sweep the enemy from parapets
to rescue those who fill their dreams

And there she is
Elegantly swimming through the blueness of the Aegean
Her lithe, naked body silhouetted against the rocks on the seabed
The froth ebbing in her wake
the sea holding its breath
the sighing

and men know they are not up to the task.
others with power and wealth and youth
will come
so they retreat into their sadness and their sense of loss

a woman's love
built on simple trust
carries her beauty as a tool
forged in her mother's womb

artifice or guile
cannot buy it
and for it men wilt and
dreams fill the forgotten
caverns in their brains.

poor wretched men
forever straining at the leash
forever pursuing fulfillment's
sodden dreams

they have no way out of
the maze of their desire.

one kiss they think, might make them immortal
one touch fulfill the promise
but the bird, its bright plumage
glowing in the dark
with the sound of fluttering wings
flies off to find a different mate
one with a better call
leaving only the dream
and the soul sucked dry