The Widow's Temptation

Cold are the sheets where my husband once lay,

Empty the hearth since he went away...

But something comes when the midnight bell chimes—

A shadow that flickers in time with my rhymes.

His voice is the crackle of logs turning black,

His fingers leave ember-tracks on my back...

He wears my love’s face, but his kiss burns too sweet—

Oh, God forgive me... I welcome the heat.

"Widow, my widow, why sleep alone?

Your grave’s half-dug, but my bed is your throne.

Let me in through the window you’ve barred with such care...

Or should I slither up... under your chair?"

FIRE SERPENT, COIL AND BIND!

Turn my flesh to ash so fine...

What’s a widow’s virtue worth?

When hell’s the warmest place on earth...

I’ll be the blush when the neighbors all stare,

The hiss in their voices—"That woman’s not right there..."

I’ll be the reason your roses all die,

The scales beneath your petticoats’ sigh.

The village priest says I’m cursed at the core,

But his holy water just steams on my floor...

Let them talk while my bedsprings creak—

The serpent and I don’t sleep... we don’t speak...

FIRE SERPENT, TAKE YOUR DUE!

Melt my wedding band in you!

Let my skin crack, let my hair gray—

I’ll burn before I kneel to pray!