The Sacred Fire
The Thespians of Greece in ancient times
Upheld the god of love devout as saints
Have ever been. Deep lovers’ paradigms
Are never quite as true as perfect paints:
Vermeer’s silk velvet spaces spring to mind.
The purity those Thespians conceived
For love is cleaner than the poet, blind
And holy in lost time, is now perceived,
Though he is idolized in throbbing lines
And storied power. Those worshipers above
All else endorsed the ideal lord. His shrines
Aroused the thuribles of incensed love.
..All other gods and goddesses must bow
….To love’s high crown on love’s broad brow.