he writes as if
the gods had always smiled at him
even in those days when desire
fought with itself
to make itself known
and what hid under a skirt
was as cherished as candy bars
from Mrs. Ashley's grocery
I shake my head
try to imagine
having known no gods
since I was told the Greek ones never were
and admired the Greeks for being such great jokesters
they wrote their gods' antics anyway
in any case
no gods meant I made my own way
perhaps the world and objects on it
shone brighter than they might have
how can I know?
and when the time came
that what hid under skirts and blouses
made me frantic to know
I may have lucked out
instead of going to jail I found
some books with drawings
and numbered explanations
which told me nothing really
but made me think myself wise
later wiser girls taught me there were no numbers
and I knew nothing but names
they cared nothing about
and for a while what I had thought of gods
settled on girls, holy, wise, and taunting
until I fumbled worship into love and learned
they were human as I
and though no numinous smiles floated around us
we made our own
drove parents and each other crazy
somehow survived
discovered other mysteries
but none perhaps
quite so engaging as those first
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