By Seth Copeland
delphi 1893
a sharp carnelian ambrotype
peasants w/ shovels demotic asides
at their unearthed armless form
lover boy of the pax romana
landslide framed a rough tondo
features scratched still perfect
firm neck hyperreal
next to soiled tan excavators
restless mustaches some blurred
forever to Cycladic blanks by camera impatience
war sons broke rebuilding
emperor’s favorite he fought lions
Nile drowned beautiful
made god in death by an emperor’s grief
Osiris wrapped honeyed in Egypt
marble hardened cocoon marl
none of these men built temples
to lovers here only Hellenia
spent youth in dust a promise
of new floods
About the Author
Seth Copeland is the founding editor of petrichor. His work has recently appeared or is forthcoming in Yes Poetry, Kestrel, Southwestern American Literature, Random Sample, and SOFTBLOW, among others. He teaches in the OKC metro. You can also find him @SethTCopeland on Twitter.
