if it hadn’t been for her extravagantly beautiful legs
and windy hair no one would have invited greta
the narrow mountain paths obviously the music of
aïda in the background and finally the center court
machu picchu at dawn if only dikembe mutombo
hadn’t been traded to the white sox right before the
jai alai playoffs we needed more than a forth-round
draft pick so we sat starving and alone
until greta began to paint an abstract chiaroscuro mural
using only the sun moving along the wall as a template
and too much of one pigment we thought
but the ancients loved it coming out of the moss to
greet us handing out multi-colored beanies with earflaps
perfect for the high night air
tropical fruit for breakfast vegetables at noon
they were all mesmerized by the whir of her dove-like
fingers highlighting the symbols during the exegesis
then the priests showed up offered a small infant
sacrifice
before the evenings line dancing to a cool reed pipe
as a finale the elders invited greta to mount the heavens
and take her place among the stars where her twinkling
would rule over them always
such gratitude from the losers we were speechless
she thanked them with her ankles
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