Sophia Loren
A raptor’s visage,
Assyrian bas relief;
yet in the eyes, the poise,
a stately acquiescence;
opulence carved
to grace the prow
of a splendrous galleon,
too primal, too regal
for Cleopatra’s gaudy barge -
or love—sick Antony, too —
for she is not a lover’s lover;
no, she is instead
the apotheosis of love,
as superior to sirens
as cathedral organ to lyres.
Reprinted with permission of "Wordwrights," No.20
