Bleeding, Hector is softer to handle
Than he was when he set fire to our ship.
Ganymede, given the usual
Love gifts, a cock and hoop,
Bedded by a clumsy giant bird
That appears to have been nurtured
On Sesame Street, the oversize
Arm pushed out of its thighs
With a fist at the tip
Like a fucking scoop,
Softens like silk.
Leaving Corinth, we found
The sphinx on her stump
Her human breasts swollen with milk,
Reclined on her rump
With her wings flattened,
Bending over the bones
Of loved boys she’s thrown
On the sand.
Death Is Pornographic
Peter Leight has previously published poems in Paris Review, AGNI, FIELD, Beloit Poetry Review, Raritan, Matter, and other magazines.