THE OUTBACK

Eros, often errant in his aim

due not to inaccuracy

but rather to indifference

He is not the curly-headed cherub archer

we've seen portrayed since classical times

but is instead a dwarfish

mudcaked Aborigine with

a fierce, black simian stare

Initially, his desire-tipped darts

provoke little more than a flinch from his prey,

but in time they are certain to bring them

stumbling and gasping to their knees

Eros is errant in his aim

due not to inaccuracy

but instead to his patient knowledge

that wherever he might strike one, that

that one is indeed done

Love, the outback of human consciousness

a place down under

a weird place, with weird creatures

and even weirder gods

Perhaps this explains why

whenever alone with you

I've often heard the faint drone

of distant digeridoos.