ΕΝΈΡΓΕΙΑ*, by Eleanor Levine

*Means “Energia” or “energy” in Greek.

muscles cut from
Michelangelo’s David
and Plato’s retreat
in a symposium
of Greek boys
and Oxford dons
who keep women
in an attic
at Rochester’s house
while frail ladies
move in shadows
to the lighthouse
Madame Bovary inhales
arsenic
Frida Kahlo
bakes for
Leon Trotsky
Marilyn kisses
Dan with
good teeth
in the
Rose Garden
near Senators
who sit in
all-white golf clubs
shooting balls
through holes
boys in junior high
read myths
Icarus’ wings melt
he falls.

Eleanor Levine’s work has appeared in Fiction, The Evergreen Review, Midway Journal, Pank, Hobart, Connotations Press, The Coachella Review, Milk Magazine, BLAZEvox, Atticus Review, The Denver Quarterly, The Toronto Quarterly, Monkeybicycle, Lunch Ticket Magazine, Prime Mincer, Happy, Penumbra, Gertrude, Fanzine, theNewerYork and Gravel Magazine; she has work forthcoming in Thrice Fiction and Hot Street. Eleanor is currently a copy editor and lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.