Verily, verily these be the courtesan verities
Etched upon the flexible woman’s brow—
Reality as brutal as all other fealties.
Out of Venice, she brought as a woman now,
Not man, might bring these things to light
Incandescent as a burning bow,
Curtsy or genuflect in the breadth of night—
Anthems for women in which to believe
For dangerous darkness or dreary daylight.
Romances about beautiful life she could weave
And print them and read them and boldly shine,
Not abed necessarily, nor nursery bereave,
Chatting with the best minds line by line,
Owner of her world with a presence fine.
4/26-5/11/2009
This acrostic poem has not previously been published. Veronica Franco is another amazing woman who lived in a time when women's minds were not valued. She was a poet and literateur. In the recent movie Casanova
the female lead opposite Casanova was based on her. Heath Ledger plays Casanova, so the movie has that added allure of the too-soon-gone actor of promise. Since she was a poet, the acrostic devoted to her also rhymes (ababcbcdcdedee) and has fourteen lines as does a sonnet. During her time, rhymed sonnets were common.
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