‘Image of Adonis’

Thursday, July 25, 2014

‘Image of Adonis’

Like the Turin Shroud with

Its image of the Adonis

His bench press holds

The tattoo of his body, each pose

Immortalized by a particular

Indentation, a stain of perspiration

I’ve slept without remorse or redemption

In beds that still hold the shapes of female lovers

The sky is gunmetal grey and getting darker

Today I want to bench press on that station

Just to inhale the scent of him, how I might howl

So much of the love is imagination: it’s over activity

It’s over ambitious, it’s over the top hopes

Is this what it means to be a person of faith?

He practices breath and poses, knows the variations

of each. Science tells us one version of the story,

Scripture another

When he is done, he sets the weight to rest and sits up,

His skin mottled, sweaty, his final meditation

A white fire on his tongue.