Dante Gabriel Rosetti immortalized his lovers:
the strong, graceful and voluptuous gentlewomen
who could have been countesses and baronesses.
Indeed, their beauty would stand the test of time.
He shared their innate glamour with the world
but kept for himself the spell of their smile.
One by one voluptuous enchantress with eyes like daggers
warned onlookers that beauty was hardly an open invitation.
AP: 1st place 2025
Categories:
countesses, art, beauty, muse, smile,
Form: Free verse
The kings of backgammon, descendants of
Bulgarian kings and Austro-Hungarian princes
Russian counts and countesses, Czech barons
Your ancestors have seen better days.
They accepted their fate as the natural state of affairs
And when it turned out to be just a fickle fortune
They had the nurture and tact not to show their shock,
Though usually such a ruthless discovery crushes many.
Now, as you spend your days playing backgammon in smoky cafes
You rarely remember the fragments of days gone by.
You've learnt to rejoice in trifling victories, and not to be disheartened by losses.
The descendants of exiled kings and ruined nobles
They organise championships of sad joy
The winner owes a round of beer for everyone.
The new Russian opposition makes the right acquaintances
Just like the old one did a hundred years ago
And in their later years, they all convert to Catholicism
Since Orthodox churches don't have pews
At least with Catholics you can doze off unnoticed
With a sniff of incense through the candle light.
Categories:
countesses, blessing, lonely, sad,
Form: Free verse
Upon my lastly leave:
I beg of you,
As I stand before the gallows
And these promises of end,
Do not take to heart
The darkness of doubt
That these shadows do cast.
It is a pious act,
Greeting and dwelling
Into The Land Of The Fat.
They'll beseech you,
These countesses of glowing trolls
And their sightliness of mend.
Do not give a start
To the blacking cloud
Of our worship died fast.
It's the curious cat,
Greeting and dwelling
Into The Land Of The Fat.
I promise you,
Upon entering these hollows
That your knees will shake and bend.
But steady your heart
To beats of devout
And find flaw in your past.
It is this godly man,
Holding religion as fact,
Greeting and dwelling
Into The Land Of The Fat.
It is your mother's hand
Holding your own at the stand,
Greeting and dwelling
Into The Land Of The Fat.
Or the magistrates wife,
Tipping the brim of her hat,
Greeting and dwelling,
Biting and swelling,
Shipping then selling,
Into The Land Of The Fat.
Categories:
countesses, allegory, angst, death,
Form: Free verse