Sappho, Don't Jump!

Sappho, Don't Jump! by Neil McCall

Come down from the cliff-edge, love;
quit the dark-eyed desperation
and the bare-breasted heroics;
put simply, he's not worth it '
nor am I '
in fact, no man's love's worth dying for.

Put your harp to good use,
entrance a worthier lover,
school your giggling girls
and place your poems
where the Christians will not find them '
in remote sea caves
and the minds of young maidens.