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@ 27.055 MHz: Ad Astra; On A Day Of Clear Weather, Good For Travel [XLIX]
Celadus the Thracian, three years short of a
full two score, was recently manumitted,
and has departed on a ship headed to
Ostia; from there, he will go on to Rome
(for the sightseeing).
Despite objections of old prudes and haters,
with him has come Alexei, not quite nineteen
years old, long-haired, slender and agile (you know
what I mean) who likes to wear sheer silk stockings
during Love at night.
Celadus and Alexei are like Eros
and Ganymede, whom Eros (not Jupiter---
not as the well informed tell it) brought from Troy's
lofty towers as their own lofters engorged
(yes, Love at first sight).
At the ship's long rail, starboard, where they have been
kissing tenderly (a tight embrace) they see---
on the distant horizon---a huge smoke plume
rising to the sky; and Alexei asks, "Is
"that Vesuvius?"
J-Called
