Have You Seen the Benin Bronzes?

Poem inspired by ancient art, and modern man.

Look if you will, oh curious one,
To the place where man's beauty had just begun.
Note the faces, oh dear learner,
Are you, like me, a great discerner
Of man's beauty here?

The noble cheek; the arrow nose;
The lips that bud and part,
Like petals of a desert rose. . .

Majestic statues of antiquity
Become flesh and blood presently,
When my lover reaches out to me.
Have you seen the Benin Bronzes?

Right here in 21st century,
With a lovers' alchemy,
We melt with ancient history
Into a sacred fire.

And I have seen the Benin Bronzes~
In the object of my desire.