Tag Archives: Melvin Chen

certain moments lend themselves to a strict economy of expression for fear of offending the gods and caricaturing the ineffable moments that dare inscription and bid only the austerest turns of phrase to be sounded out and rendered into hymns … Continue reading →

Mark the death and rebirth Of Hyacinth, as Ovid had done, Faithfully as a scribe, And, more lovingly, the Spartans With their festival. Mark love, death, change and repose In these poems, as you would mark A page with a … Continue reading →

While the sword rests Idle in its scabbard above us, Let me first draw your left thigh aside, Tracing flesh along its circumference And licking its warmer inside. An upward thrust, Followed by a parting of the right, Setting off … Continue reading →

‘Yet certain accents of your name shall echo “Ai, Ai,” within the music of my lyre.’                                                                                     – Ovid, Metamorphoses, Book X First open the ἀρτηρία With a clean blade, Drawing but three petals of blood. Then clean and oil the … Continue reading →