Goddesses Poem by Lucius Furius

Kate Larson, Carol Ulverness-
19-year-old goddesses
I knew at college:
beauty so inward and effortless-
like Botticelli's 'The Birth of Venus'-
that that of even the most celebrated actresses and models
seems to be contrived and self-conscious.

Like all of us, they're in their 40's now-
I wonder what they're like....

Does some inner flame
still illuminate their faces and bodies?

Or were they flowers-
whose petals now have faded and fallen?