Duane Locke

The Dark Haired Woman Next Door

I wonder if I dressed as a swan
Would my neighbor understand
When I called her "Leda."

Or would she say, seeing my feathers,
"You have drunk too much wine."
Our age, not the time for metaphor, symbol, or myth.

She's not learned, has a modern college education,
Does not know Yeats, or the Greeks, only rock music
Seeing me dressed as a swan, she would dial 911.

Also by Duane Locke Narcissus Series -->

Duane Locke has been Poet in Residence at University of Tampa for over twenty years and has published extensively in print magazines such as American Poetry Review, Nation, Literary Quarterly, Black Moon, and Bitter Oleander. He is the author of 14 books of poems, his latest being Watching Wisteria.

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