Lili Elbe’s Ecstasy (1902)

Kouros 

Map of the Cyclades draws a triangle. 

If the third vertex is abstinence, the second is the self.

Crystal-inwoven marble itches the stump of its

original fault—form 

worked sharply out of formlessness. 

Styrofoam cubed years later from the same quarry

becomes identical kitchen countertops. 

As we too become bystanders of a tragic time. 

Calciums discolor a zoo of statuary—a man

outside of frame told me to stand still. If the West

had ever desired an object other than itself, it

was I. If I had ever disrobed, it was to no end.

Nolan Lee is a poet and short story writer from New Jersey.