Marble Caryatid,
Eleusis Museum
I press my cheek
against her shoulder,
colder than the day -
she smiles.
She smiled the same
archaic smile
upon the propylaea,
and pilgrims
on the sacred way
to Eleusinia.
Somewhere far away
her sister smiles
on cloudy Cambridge,
lips phrasing a blessing
calm and sweet.
My heart is troubled
by a secret
love I cannot speak;
my flesh is warmer
than her marble breast;
my flesh is weak.