At The Amphitheater

oh what a speech
I gave my love

ancient jar dangling
dangerously from wished-for history

the wind in her hair
washing its soul of soul

I dropped anchor
in my poems

the Aegean hot to the touch
of a noun

I told her how beautiful she was
for one in such a hurry

how each shield
darted in green sand

but my most wonderful words
had no effect at all

like a soldier on war
or thorn-covered thorns