Infidelity

By Yusef Komunyakaa b. 1947 Yusef Komunyakaa

Zeus always introduces himself

As one who needs stitching

Back together with kisses.

Like a rock star in leather

& sapphires—conflagration

& a trick of silk falling

Between lost chances & never

Again. His disguises are almost

Mathematical, as Io & Europa

Pass from their dreams into his.

This lord of storm clouds

Is also a sun god crooning desire

& dalliance in a garden of nymphs.

Some days, he loves gloxinia,

& others, craves garlic blooms—

Hera, Aegina, & Callisto in the same song.

Yusef Komunyakaa, “Infidelity” from Talking Dirty to the Gods. Copyright © 2000 by Yusef Komunyakaa. Used by permission of Farrar, Straus & Giroux, LLC, www.fsgbooks.com. All rights reserved. Caution: Users are warned that this work is protected under copyright laws and downloading is strictly prohibited. The right to reproduce or transfer the work via any medium must be secured with Farrar, Straus and Giroux, LLC.

Source: Talking Dirty to the Gods (Farrar Straus and Giroux, 2000)

Biography

In his poetry, Yusef Komunyakaa weaves together the elements of his own life in short lines of vernacular to create complex images of life in his native Louisiana and the jungles of Vietnam. From his humble beginnings as the son of a carpenter, Komunyakaa has traveled far to become a scholar, professor, and prize-winning poet. In 1994, he claimed the Pulitzer Prize and the $50,000 Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award for his Neon . . .

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