Persephone

Persephone - Patricia Barber

Summer pales like a ghost of stubborn Spring

This itch this prayerful longing for heat

Belies an angel's desire to take wing

So as you fall then fall into me sweet

Persephone now your poet and guide

Night after day after night I'll complete

Your saintly goodness with its darker side

As one without the other is naive

Past Limbo to the Second Circle we slide

When first you whisper that little white lie

The gods will laugh

The gods will cry

In this soft circle Reason's slave to desire

This feels like fun

This feels like fire

These small indiscretions may get lost over time

So much like love

So much like crime

As fine fine fabric slipping over your skin

This feels like silk

This feels like sin

Like a gentle dirty dream

Like a room where you can hide

Like confession in your sleep

Like expression sanctified

Like a devil like a friend

Like a doctor who can end your pain

Like a pillow like a kiss

Like a party like a pill

Like a priest my lovely lips

As redemption will fulfill

Every spectral midnight fantasy

Each and every d*mning desire to be

Complicit with me

And as I leave you softly under the stars

Without a scratch

Without a scar

Like hell on earth slipping under your skin

This feels like love

This feels like sin

——end——*