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Adonis's abdomen
For Yukio Mishima

Unlike a woman's,
A man's desire for beauty
Is a desire for death.
I never had a sense of duty,
I never took a futile breath.
I am seen as a seer,
But the real seers don't see me.

And I desire to be seen to desire not to be seen;
And I desire to be desired by those who shun to be seen;
When I retire as a seer I will shun to be desired;
And when I am seen to be desired I will die.

Unlike a woman's,
A man's own love is true,
As true as is a mirror's;
And if my love could pass right through,
It would go straight to Lethe.
Vermilion-white as carnations,
Adonis will be saved by selfishness.

And I desire to be seen to desire not to be seen;
And I desire to be desired by those who shun to be seen;
When I retire as a seer I will shun to be desired;
And when I am seen to be desired I will die.

And I feed on the fire of your desire and esteem;
And the seat of my desire is my abdomen and my spleen;
I am a liar and a sigher and I lie upon my pyre;
And when I cease to be desired I will die.

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