Poem For Saturday

"The Idea Of Beauty" by Meleagros from the 3rd century B.C.E., was translated by Brooks Haxton, and appeared in the Atlantic in June of 1998:

Shy, he stepped off into the cornfield. I could see
   his back muscles under the damp shirt quiver and go slack.
Turning again to face the shade, he smiled at me, not
   squinted, smiled, and finished tugging shut his fly.
Now, when the cornstalks in the night wind slide
   like fire, I see him. He steps closer in my dream.
I don't know, where he sleeps, if sleep refreshes him,
   but here it works me like hot metal over a flame.

(Image by Flickr user Philippe Leroyer)