Like Leda's Hips

A poem after Leonardo da Vinci's studies for Leda and the Swan

Leonardo da Vinci, Study for Leda and the Swan, pen and ink and wash over black chalk on paper, c. 1506–1508, Chatsworth House, England.

Like Leda’s Hips

The swan, like Leda’s hips,
isn’t interested in geometry.
In soft black chalk, the swan 

is all curves, reaching back 
toward Leda’s torso, open
beak, bending his S-shaped 

neck toward the true tree
of knowledge. Leda, full 
of grace, turns away without 

violence, without weapons, 
without geometry, until she 
and the swan are trapezoids, 

purely man-made shapes 
found nowhere in nature. 
And then they disappear.