I too quarreled with Aphrodite to whom I pray you will come soon
—Sappho
You, Aphrodite, tossing candy to the crowd
Longing clings to you, a silky skirt that rises
with a warm breeze. You have reduced me
to a thing that wants. Not knowing what I know
not seeing what I see & I gorge on anything
that looks like love
Bones, shreds of foil, plastic wrappers—
all stuck in my throat—
& yet you tell me to sing!
I could be outside with the blooming lilacs
I could be free, but I can’t bear to be away
from your scent. It clouds every room, every living cell
Love oh love oh careless love
I could use a sonnet right now, an unmade bed
I write to O. “our whisperings are a dream-quilt
of hummingbirds” & there goes the other shoe.
You say, the damaged heart will sprout new vessels, just ask
I am a fool, Aphrodite, release me, please but bring O. back
one more time—without the knives & ultraviolet powers
from her place by the salty sea
through the dry roots of that sad tree of us
half-eaten by her sweet goats
link to video
Ellen Miller-Mack is a nurse practitioner (retired/rewired) with an MFA in Poetry from Drew University. Her book reviews have appeared in Rattle, Valparaiso, Bookslut, the Rumpus, the Poetry Cafe, and the Poetry Foundation. Her poems have appeared in Lavender Review (journal and anthology January 2025), Lily Poetry Review, Antiphon, 5 A.M., Redheaded Stepchild, Affilia, and The Lake Rises: poems to and for our bodies of water. Ellen co-wrote The Real Cost of Prisons Comix (PM Press) and the comic books are downloadable free HERE. She is the host of Poet Talk, a live radio program on WMUA (www.wmua.org) which is also a podcast on Spotify and Apple. If you are a poet living in Western Massachusetts or close enough to drive to Amherst, get in touch with me at emillermack@gmail.com.
