This language play poem about the modern day Diana the Huntress is part of the opera libretto Gertrude Stein Invents a Jump Early On.

Diana au courant


She was a flippy lady--
a real sixer in a deck
of nines. She knew
the handle from the muzzle,
the click of the cock
from the squeeze
of the trigger.
She listened--
an authentic spoon tuner
in a forest of forks.
Her ear was better
than a metal detector.
Sharpened and juicier
than a blowgun, her mouth
tasted the purple plum.
In short she had more
life in her than the entire
city of New York.