the devil's advocate

ii. earthly delights

in ovid's fairytales
the flame was a mercy,
       a present from the gods
humanity claimed;
but
imprisoned prometheus
                       had forever
                       blinded humanity
                with his poisoned gift:
by giving them the light
he taught them to fear the shadow

in eden
the war was easily forgotten
she played with simon's hair
and sang a tune-less eulogy;
jessamine wanted to speak
but no words were enough
              to describe her love
                    instead, she said
                    your hair
                    never quite lies flat, here
                                               (i love you)

then, simon laughed
like a cathedral's cry
as he read the parenthesis
              (he loved her back)

jessamine never talked
            about her family
            and the past
but she was ambitious
and prideful
           (as all royals are)

in the moonlight
she was a deific sight
       a marble goddess
       worth worshiping in the dark;
following eros' example
he gave sweet psyche all his nights

their kind of
(im)mortal
burning love
inspired poets and artists alike:
as herrick wrote them a poem,
shakespeare wrote them a play,
rimbaud visit them
in a thousand dreams,
         dante composed a song
                             and called it
                             beatrice's elegy
              (for his lover alone)

but behind the metaphors
and the ancient latin verses
                       the chorus sang
                   the warning choir:
you should stop feeding the flame
if you do not wish to be consumed
                                            by the fire

the lovers ignored the lyrics
and danced with the melody
around rembrandt's hellfire
             a picturesque garden
                   of earthly delights
                   would become a tragedy
                              in the name of fire