War Dances

Home of the Braves

When my female friends are left

By horrid spouses and lovers,

I commiserate. I send gifts—

Powwow songs and poems — and wonder

Why my gorgeous friends cannot find

Someone who knows them as I do.

Is the whole world deaf and blind?

I tell my friends, “I’d marry you

Tomorrow.” I think I’m engaged

To thirty-six women, my harem:

Platonic, bookish, and enraged.

I love them! But it would scare them—

No, of course, they already know

That I can be just one more boy,

A toy warrior who explodes

Into silence and warpaths with joy.