Brown Beauty and Others Left Behind
“more tourist still than soldier” ~ Rupert Brooke
America and Canada, their spine
Of Rocky Mountains, called across the sea,
Their men and women waiting, near supine
Already. Rupert left behind debris
Of men and women who had seen his nude
Self, naked as the men who modelled for
God statues for the Greeks. He left, all, crude
In breaking hearts. A white Tahitian shore
Called out to him and offered him a crown
Upon the head of perfect womanhood,
A crown of flowers for them both, this brown
Palm bending beauty with her sandalwood
Submission-giving poetry unmatched
Between her bedroom sheets with passion thatched.
~ Phillip Whidden