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The Pursuit of Mercuria

For some years I have pursued that lovely
Greco-Roman woman called Mercuria;
I’ve yearned till I could no longer reason.
Once, just the sight of her would have pleased me;

But now, at whatever cost and downfall,
I must taste of her fiery passion.
At whatever risk I plot her every move.
When the time is right, I’ll be standing there;

It will be just us, while the world’s asleep.
The problem is that she’s a fast woman
And is quite difficult to even sight,
Much less capture, entrance, embrace and kiss.

And I can only have her for awhile;
Before dawn, if I lingered with her long,
We’d soon be consumed by the rising fire;
After twilight, we’d be lost in darkness.

Yes, I have courted her many times,
But she’s so elusive, fleeting, and small.
Once I waited for her just before nightfall.
All was perfect—’twas the best time of all.

There was the calm of a windless sunset,
Then the brief brooding of twilight’s gloaming,
And the promise of a slow sultry night.
Clouds then came—and so I missed her again!

She strayed not far from her fiery lover.
When I may have glimpsed her (I wasn’t sure),
She slid toward her master’s gravity,
Condemned to whirl about his light;

(However, I was quite determined;
‘Twas the thrill of the quest that kept me strong.)

I planned to surprise her just before dawn;
I crept on the frosty roof, near slipping,
There waiting. Damn! Clouds were boiling along
And blocking my view of her beauty rare.

Suddenly the clouds cleared, and she was mine—
Just over the eastern horizon was
The planet Mercury—dear Mercuria.
I stayed with her as long as possible,

Naked in the night, until, to blazes
She went when the sun arose; however,
Memories remain of those precious moments
And now she belongs to me forever.

Venus was too easy, Mars always there,
Jupiter ever-present, Saturn bright,
Earth under my feet, Pluto underworled—
King Neptune, Queen Urania? Where are you?