PostPoems Be Artistic. Be Creative. Be Inspired!

[for Judy Costea, Magnificent Poetess, this love story]

She is a beautiful girl,

with magenta-tinted hair

(close-cropped, like a teenaged boy's;

herself only fifteen, too);

amply gorgeous, fulsome curves;

arms hanging from the chain's end,

bare feet hardly reach the floor---

cold, rough stone, the pimp's cellar,

where he keeps her like preserves,

except when he can sell her

company to high bidders,

who use a wand for lashes---

with only temporary

welts that fade within an hour.

She has no sense of clock's time,

or day to night succession;

but only the pimp's clients:

those who injure her private

parts (thnking infliction of

pain is proof of their manhood---

pain assuaged by a few coins).

Then comes the hour she will not

ever forget:  the hoof-sounds

of camels, and the smooth slide

of swords unsheathed (an escort

of guards sworn to loyalty);

and a voice making demand

in well-educated Greek.

The terrified pimp's shrill wheeze

brings a brief smile to her face,

despite her fear of what the

cash changing hands means for her.

But it is good Roman gold

(even on this far frontier

money transcends barriers).

In the dark stairwell the pimp

whimpers; and she does not know

he saw the jeweled ring of

Inimitable Livers---

friends of dead Mark Antony,

pledged to serve or to avenge

the affairs of his stepson,

who watches, behind the pimp,

as the chain is unlocked from

her wrists.  Then a cloak is placed

on her nakedness (not quite

to her bare feet).  This scholar

(of stars and history)

says to her, "You are now free."

Following him into the

sunlight she beholds them all:

two other scholars (like him),

the guards that protect them, and

servants bearing treasures (gold,

incense, myrrh), on this journey,

this pilgrimage bound westward.

Silent, not intrusive, she

joins him (who is named by the

sole word, Starwatcher) on the

camel kneeling before them.

His amazement pleases her

who, masterless now, wants to

please him who bought her life back.

Starward

[jlc]