The Contemporary Courtly Lover

This knight nouveau knows he's the one
whose subtle stratagems will take
the lover's fortressed heart and make
a match that cannot be undone.

Devout, he studies self-help books,
E. Post's and Ovid's, tried and true,
and Playboy, so he'll know what's new—
but mostly tends to how he looks.

At toilette tres meticulous,
he grooms his pampered hair and face
and sucks his waist so there's no trace
of fat. His soul adventurous,

he suavely dons Armani armor,
and cooing like a morning dove,
he consummates with his true love:
the perfect clone in his own mirror.

© Ralph La Rosa