The Men We Admire

By Natalie Morales

Three-fourths of the way through “Troilus and Criseyde,”
I discover on May 4, 1380
Geoffrey Chaucer was acquitted of rape.
C e c i l y C h a m p a g n e.
With a name like that, who blames him?
In London, it must’ve been hard—
(no pun intended)
to get her warmed up—
(no pun intended)
to his penetrating gaze—
(no pun intended).
Was he tender, at first?
Did he kiss her nekke?
Did she wax too redde?
She asked him please, not now,
she’s had too much champagne
and, perhaps, the pun made him laugh.
Champagne comes only from a certain region of France,
and the London-born Cecily saw Geoffrey’s hips
dance a sinister dance.