XV

I put myself and my love in your hands,

Aurelius. I ask a modest favour:

If ever in your heart you have yearned

To desire something that is pure and intact,

Keep the boy safe for me,

I don’t mean from the public – I have no fear

Of them, passing through the piazza, here one moment,

There the next, buried in their own business –

But from you and your penis, that’s what I fear,

A danger to good boys and bad alike.

Go seduce whomever you please, as you please,

As often as you wish, whenever you’re out,

Only make this one boy an exception,

A modest request, I believe.

But if a cruel mind and rampant desire

Drive you to commit such a crime

Against me, you bastard,

Then I pity you and your hideous fate.

For your feet will be bound and your backdoor

Pushed open so radishes and mullets can run you through.