CATULLUS/PRIAPUS

Catullus be cool
Adopt a stoic stance   –
Sex was never meant to satisfy
And tactically
In nature’s constant dice-game
What could be the point?

Survival of all species
Relies on reproduction
Keeping every being love-enamoured   –
We are that human animal
Especially ‘successful’
From mating all year round   –
And this with scant respect
For sober boundary   –

Stags lock horns and tigers jaws
To claim exclusive love rights
But only in due season   –
Meanwhile the flea will outperform
All-comers and run high-jumps

This prolific parasite surpasses
Every man in ceaseless generation
Although   –   I grant you this   –
He has advantage over us
He is not   –   as we   –
Perpetually
Preoccupied in wars

 

PRIAPUS

 

Don’t sit in your trap watching telly
A budgie in its cage with a little bell
A cuttlebone   a plastic wheel   a Hell
Of entertainment   –

Get out and clear those English weeds away
From your laughable landfill garden
That’s where you’ll find me
Pagan and ignoble   –
Of all your Roman gods in plaster cast

Trust me   –
On the first full day of Spring
With a lucky drop of sun
Even you may find rejuvenation

 

 

Bernard Saint
Illustration: Claire Palmer

 

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