Chapter Text
Venice In Summer.
The glittering glass ceiling of the sea glints
like the mirror of a munificent mural necklace
(a turbulent market‘s best tourist trap).
The windows wink wolfishly at passersby
when withering widows in veils wave lovers goodbye.
Grotesque gothic goons glare from the forest of spires
as tinted panes paint my skin serpentine in setting sunlight.
But the terrifying truth treads at night:
Your eyes wandering to mine, wretched – withering whites,
caustic coral lips caressed – chastised – by cerulean channels,
fastidious fingers feeding fleeting, flickering fish.
A rotting serene siren‘s call beckons me nigh
arcadian arms drawing me down, and down, to drown
but I glide through the glittering glass ceiling of the sea --
- and, unlike you, I leave.
(Besides: I leave my soul as penance in velvet venomous Venice).