[Erik Olson]

Changeable : Bacchus

They'd shanghaied not a prince, they proved so wrong:
These pirates tried to tie the youth of long
drooped curling locks, but ropes snapped off his broad
frame—contrapposto, smiling, jaunty brow,
and wordless. All looked baffled. From the prow,
the pilot yelled: "Fools! This could be a god
we've brought aboard. Beg he'll forgive us, men!
Neptune, or Jove... Let not your eyes presume.
Bow, hope that bowing mitigates our doom."
The captain scoffed, bade all hands tie again.
But, looking back, they dumped the briny cord:
A Lion groaned where stood a prince before,
and Bear, jaws dropping with the captain's gore.
Swifter than thought, they swan-dived overboard
whose bodies morphed; merged with the foamy spray,
their skin turned pearly; dolphins swam away.
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