They spurt right out of the brain. That’s
why Athena leapt from her father’s head,
clothed, armed. Somebody had to axe
Zeus’s head open, but Athena was crouched
in there, ready. Greek men did their thinking
with their guts. Why not? Their brains
were busy making sperm. Place your hand
on your belly. Do you feel a quiver there?
Does it help you to apprehend mysterious
manliness—persistent whiskers, hands
catching baseballs, sperm snaking
suddenly out of the dark? Golden Athena
lives in London now. She shines above
a private club’s portico, always outside,
never allowed in the picture room,
drawing room, morning room, and
certainly not permitted a sperm-rich
liaison in one of the sumptuous beds.
———–
Barbara Daniels’s Talk to the Lioness was published by Casa de Cinco Hermanas Press in 2020. Her poetry has appeared in Cleaver, Faultline, Small Orange, Meridian, and elsewhere. Barbara Daniels received a 2020 fellowship from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts.