Constantine Pantazonis, a recent graduate of the University of Cincinnati, is a poet and satirist whose work focuses on the human experience – the interplay between memory, dream, and fantasy that constitutes our sense of reality. Diverse in scope and utilizing a variety of stylistic approaches, Constantine feels that he takes an eclectic approach to poetry.
Summer 2012
Table of Contents - Vol. VIII, No. 2
Poetry Fiction Translations Reviews
Constantine Pantazonis
it happened again
it always does, this time
it was a woman in a car, turning
a corner, a three second window
of opportunity, into which
i crammed a neurotic lifetime
she sort of reminded me...
different combinations came to mind
louise ranier with a touch of anna magnani
or maybe a susan hayward/myrna loy hybrid
she was tough to pin down -
hard to figure out, of course
i only saw her from the shoulders up
but that seemed to be enough, after all
i've gone with much less and ended up
at the same place - the same damn place
observe, the lion
as he roams the savanna,
spraying his scent
much like his diminutive cousins
the female remains to protect her young
and just as the mother lion protects her cubs,
you can protect your children with
an insurance policy from mutual of omaha
now, we travel now up the amazon,
deep within the jungle interior
our native guide, a jivaro head-hunter
recently converted by jesuit missionaries
paddles into the circuitous backwaters
of the amazon basin
as jim wrestles for his life
gripped within the muscular coils
of a 30 foot, 300 pound anaconda
who, by the convulsive intensity
of its savage contortions
probably hasn't eaten in a week or two
just as jim is caught within
its suffocating reptilian grip
you too can escape the coils of dire circumstance
with an insurance policy from mutual of omaha
we shift now to the australian back country
to observe the flora and fauna of this isolated continent,
where life has evolved into unique and uniquely incredible
variations unlike any we have seen in our travels
our native guide, an aborigine
affectionately known as hey you boy
has sniffed out the spoor of the canis lupus dingo
an apex predator, the largest of this strange and wonderful land
our guide emits a shrill bark - a mating call
as jim fights for his life, surrounded by a pack
of snarling alpha male sex-starved dingoes
you too can escape the bloody canines of misfortune
with an insurance policy from mutual of omaha
© Constantine Pantazonis
