Excess of Corn

“Corn is the food of love, hard to resist,”
Begins the botanist. “Please note the genus.
If you should take some ears of corn to Venice
Remind yourself that there may be a twist:
Watch the canals for skulls, and shake your fist
At brainless fate. Remember poor St. Dennis
Who lost his head, ignoring the cruel menace
Of Roman goons who never had been kissed.”

“Corn is a tasty monocotyledon,”
He goes on, darkly. “Learning Botany
Will aid your love lives. I have family
In Uppsala, a holy place in Sweden,
Where Carl Linnaeus’s Garden of Eden
Ensures that every Swedish girl loves me.”