Tuesday, May 19, 2020

Me (Orpheus, the Yokel)

Can these villanelles be exemplary?
The speaker’s a flirty autoeroticist in love with their own feet.
Well, that’s me.
Who else could I be?
Or can I just not take the heat,
trying to be exemplary?
For someone to want to read
the villanelles, the speaker must be a compete
character, separate from me.
OK, maybe that helps me see
my way. The old yokel’s feet are still pretty;
but they’re also still me,
so how can the villanelles not be too salty
for poetry fans to want to read?
Well, these smarmy villanelles can be only be exemplary
if they’re about the God of Poetry
Themselves, child of Prince and BeyoncĂ©—
a flirty autoeroticist in love with the world’s feet.
Well, that’s me.