Love Unspoken
after Anacreon
His eyes like olives dark and unripe I long to taste the bitterness within
His hair a messy tangle of black vines his skin a warm terracotta earth
I dare not speak my love for him lest I wither like a grape in sun
But in his presence I am a wild fig tree bursting with green leaves
I took Anacreon's focus on the beauty of young men and the pain of unrequited love, and his use of simple, direct language and concrete nouns, to create a poem that explores the longing and vulnerability of loving in silence. I aimed to capture the sudden shifts in tone and emotion that are characteristic of Anacreon's poetry, while maintaining a sense of intimacy and sensuality.