I agree with you about the language; my stamina for the abstract is probably less than yours.

> What was your Helen poem?

I really liked the idea of her leaving Troy with Achilles and doing something else with her life, it seemed to make her less of a pawn, so I sort of ran with that. She ended up being a dancer (salsa, but it's my one anachronism ever and I love it). I called it "Ellen in Egypt" and the first line goes "I had to change my name and cut my hair". (I'm happy to send you a copy if you're interested, but I'm still shopping it around to lit mags so don't want to post it.)

marymary
http://www.pantoum.org