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Aphrodite a reply from Botticelli
Written for the December Year 2 topic of "In response to 'Nocturnal on St Lucy’s Day' by John Donne"
perh.f.Gk.aphos.foam
There is no perhaps
I definitely created you to be the best.
The most beautiful.
The epitome of all things attractive
From the top of your head
To the tips of your toes
Via all the other voluptuous bits
Including those magnificent – lips
And legs and hips.
And hair – glorious, flowing, lustrous.
It really affects me
That I created this lovely statuette
The apogee of beauty.
I fell in love with you.
My hands upon your body every day
Caressing you, finding a way
To make you better than anyone else
Before or since.
Feeling you, touching you.
Loving you.
My vision of loveliness.
My idea of the most beautiful woman
In the world.
Not a random shape or form.
Of course you were made from foam.
And the breezes of the air
The spray, the wind,
The sun, the warm summer air.
The essence of
The music of the spheres
All welded into one.
You.
All fair sounds, all looks, all smells,
Imbue you with the very essence
Of your being – the epitome of beauty.
But what are you like?
An awful quarrelsome shrew.
Termagant
Habitual malcontent
Disputatious cow.
And there is the irony.
Glorious, radiant, ravishing
And yet not likely to be ravished
Because you’re frigid.
That’s why you rail at me
And all mankind.
I create a masterpiece
Of resplendent female beauty
A non-pareil
The mark at which others can not dare aspire.
And yet you bleat about modesty.
A beauty such as yours
Does not belong to you.
It is for all mankind
And women too.
It must be seen
In all its fullest glory
For all time.
Does the sun hide its form
On a summer’s day?
Does the rainbow shrink
Behind a cloud?
Or does it radiate
And show itself off
To be admired
By all.
A goddess of love
Beauty and fertility
Can not be demure
Discreet.
Beautiful, naked, yes,
Yet modest
In your perfection.
Be grateful that men are attracted to you
In all manner of ways.
The future of the world lies with you.
It will never change.
Men will fall in love with women
And measure their beauty against yours.
My lovely, gorgeous, brilliant
Vixen.
© Richard Strong, December 2007
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