Penelope

Go wage your war, go sail your sea.
Fight your daily battles
against adulterers and monsters and unstill waters.

In the soft spaces
between the giants and enchantresses,
when echoes of battle cries no longer trouble your ears
drowned in the lulling sounds of the waves,
think of me, amidst maidservants and suitors--

The din of their usurping bacchanals
carry about in the hallways of my thought,
foundering our shared serenity
as I unravel the threads
of the shroud of our coupling.

When the bow-string is stretched taut and creaking,
trained upon those who would bury us
stay your hand and come to our bed,
so I can feel your warmth and weight,
my anchor.