had an Assyrian build:
muscled torso, head
like a bird's, legs
and gait of a lioness;
her eyes were
colored paste and gold
opaquely smol-
dering; she wore
a permanent
sultrily determined glare
(and was
no stranger to the playing
field herself in younger days
before
her mother looked askance
and said
it was after all bad
form for a lady
of breeding, raised
to raise funds at museum teas
and inherit beachfront properties
to go
about in muddy
underpants (oh
Blondie! I could make
such sandwiches
from
your visions of the world!»).
II.
Cold, implacable, regal, sere
(and withal, fragrant
as a Wisconsin milking), she
demanded to be loved
with not the mere-
