hadrian loved his antinous so much
as to deify his dead lover,
like gathering the broken pieces from the nile
to piece them back into eternal marble.

alexander and his hephaestion
were one soul abiding in two bodies,
alexander wielded with the light and stars,
hephaestion was willing to be in shadow.

apollo stopped hyacinthus
from his descent to the underworld,
and turned him into a beautiful flower,
the famous remnant of his love.
achilles burnt and wept for patroclus,
and with rage he killed hector in the form of destiny
in order to destroy a dozen sons of troy
but more to be with the boy he loved.

euryalus and nisus were inseparable,
half of each other’s soul,
holding to each other through blood and fire,
and died in private gold.

you forgot to mention us
women who have been loving women
since the dawning of the world,
we have been eating love for days straight.

perhaps iphis would have been just fine
as a golden-haired girl kissing another girl
she and ianthe in a tangle lovers’ embrace
returning to each other in waves.