Fauno Rosso, by Alarie Tennille

Fauno Rosso. Red marble, Roman copy from the late Hellenism. Wikimedia Commons.

Fauno Rosso

“Red Faun,” (actually a satyr) sculpture in red marble
from the 2nd Century, restored in the 18th Century ,
speaking when on loan to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
in Kansas City, Missouri.

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Carpe diem! Drink, laugh, kiss,
fondle! Pleasure’s too brief,
eternity’s too long without it!

Imagine me here in a New World
unknown when I followed Dionysus.
Those were the days!

I roved through the vineyards,
frisked after nymphs in the meadows.
I had the great Hadrian’s ear

or rather he had mine, for wine
is a fine relaxer of tongues.
The Emperor needed a friend.

Poor man, surrounded
by ignoramuses who disdained
his love of art. How gladly we

shared our passion for beauty.
What? You can’t believe
I appreciate more than carnal

pleasures? You forget I play
the flute, my tool of seduction.
My music soothed the emperor.

Alas, I foresaw Hadrian’s end –
just not my own. Somehow found
myself buried in rubble,

dismembered, abandoned.
My glory days lost, I dreamed
of the past. But oh my thirst

for wine and seduction!
How I yearned for 1500 years
to again feel the thrill of warm

hands on my torso. Delicious.
How awkward when my chest
traveled to the Vatican alone.

Soon my face also felt the sun.
Too brief! Now my collected
parts reside inside forever.

Cold as marble, I warmed myself  
with memories until healed
by the skilled hands of Cavaceppi.

More than restored, he brought
muscles, sinews, and flesh to life
in ways not understood

by my creators. My prowess wasted
among the red-dressed, celibate
idiots of Rome. They labeled me

a faun! Guess I can’t expect them
to know their own haunches
from those of a goat. But bless

them. I raise my handful of grapes
in gratitude to be a satyr.
Even as I stand before you

in perpetual indoor winter.
I give thanks to be handsome
and whole once more.

Alarie Tennille

Alarie’s latest poetry book, Waking on the Moon, contains many poems first published by The Ekphrastic Review. Please visit her at alariepoet.com.

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