Conquest Most Sweet

Artwork: Dominion - Natalie Shau, 2009

come hither
beloved
and let
me
kiss
you:

lose yourself
in the
sweetness,
the warmth,
the
overwhelming
softness
of flesh,
of love,
of lust
unbridled

unleash
yourself
from the
fetters,
the rusting
shackles
of prudery,
of ignorance,
of innocence
unwarranted...

free
yourself
from your
inhibitions
and bind
yourself
to
me.

Vanity of Vanities, All is Vanity

Artwork: Vanitas - Natalie Shau, year unknown

remember:
you are dust
to dust you
will return.

you resort
to the
paint-pot,
the surgeon,
the mask
to hide
your
uglinesses

it does not
change
a
thing:

you're hideous:
rotting flesh
stinking,
reeking
beneath rich
perfumes,
salves,
unguents.

your heart
is rotten,
your soul
is black,
your mind
filled
with the
maggots,
the vermin
of slander,
of envy,
of greed,
of lust,
of hate.

how i
wish:
someone
would strip
you
of your
pretensions,
your follies,
your lies,
your false -
blatantly fake -
pieties,
your power-plays
your pitiful
mockable
mockeries...

...and
show
that you
are little
more
than the
devil's
precious
little
whore.

Siren-Song

Artwork: Blue Mermaid - Yoshimasa Tsuchiya, 2009

i love you
beyond doubt,
beyond pain,
beyond pleasure,
beyond joy,
beyond grief...

more than magic,
more than power,
more than substance,
more than even
life itself...

i lure you
to my
side,
i beckon you
to heed
this call,
this song,
this ode
to love
and longing
and passion
and life...

for
i love you
more than the sweet,
more than the bitter,
more than the sane,
more than the mad,
more than life,
more than death
and possibly
beyond.

Anger

Artwork: As She Began to Fade Away - Chad Merritt, 2010

i feel the
pain:
the rage
threatening,
roaring,
trying
to break out
like wings
through my
shoulders.

i am bowed,
and cowed,
and rendered
mute
and scarlet-
faced
by the
things
i cannot,
could not,
would not,
should not
say
lest i
kill with
a word.

i want
to lash out
to bash up
to mash up
to crush,
crunch,
cripple,
maim;

to rip out
slanderous
tongues,
to pop out
lying
eyes

for every
wrong
inflicted
upon my
heart,
upon my
soul,
upon my
flesh:

thrice
is the
price,
the
ransom
i name,
i seek,
i demand.

Nine Days

Artwork: While You're Sleeping - Audrey Kawasaki, 2009

the clock
ticks:

minutes pass,
seconds
of life
fluttering,
flitting
by.

i sit in
the darkness
and wait
even
as the
pain
cripples me
more than
i care
to admit.

the fear
breaks me
but i
try
not to
let it
show.

i think
of you
and think
too hard
and worry
myself
sick
and worn
and ragged.

and i
wait
still;
nine days
ere
my year
turns

and i
weep
and i sigh
and i
worry
myself
to
shreds.