H e a r t S o n s & H e a r t D a u g h t e r s of A l l e n G i n s b e r g

N a p a l m H e a l t h S p a : R e p o r t 2 0 1 4 : A r c h i v e s E d i t i o n

RANDY ROARK

Venus and Adonis (1592)

… mihiflauus Apollo

Pocula Castalia plena minister aqua.

(Fair Phoebus lead me to the Muses’ spring.)

—Ovid, Amores

Feed where thou wilt, on mountain, or in dale

graze on my lips, and if those hills be dry,

stray lower, where the pleasant fountains lie.

—232-234, Venus hitting on Adonis

Her hair gilds the water as she glides,

later spread on a towel to dry

sun glittering gold.

Make use of time, let not advantage slip.

A compact of flint, not fire.

The sunset begins to glow.

I’m headed into darker waters,

measuring my strangeness

against the stream.

The silver waves icy like shattered glass,

the black swirling chaos, the undertow,

the sharp sun burning in the sky.

[Excerpt from The Shakespeare Poems by Randy Roark. Originally published in NHS 2012, http://www.poetspath.com/napalm/nhs12/.]