Here's Aphrodite, goddess of love,

attempting to fight off the goat-god, Pan,

while Eros, her son, hovers above

her shoulder, ever a child, never a man.

The marble likenesses, still fresh,

for two millennia have stood,

almost alive, almost flesh;

they look as if they'd like to move—and could.

The goddess defends herself with a shoe—

a shoe! a puny weapon indeed.

Is this just for show, a false hullabaloo,

before she succumbs to Pan—his lust and her need?

And what of Pan, goat-legged and horned;

why must he make one conquest more?

Does he fear he'll be belittled and scorned

because of his looks, and so he must score and score?

You can't trust Eros, that little imp;

he has no pity for even his mother.

He's full of tricks, a matchmaker and pimp,

and he'll play one person off against another.

Is it naked lust or love in bloom

that's pictured in this Greek tableau?

It's time to let the action resume,

so cue the actors and let's get on with the show.