Thursday, July 19, 2007

the passion of st. john the baptist (sonnet)

soon after salome had finished dancing
and john the baptist knew this world no more,
a servant of the king who'd been romancing
a queen's maid stared upon the littered floor.
before his feet the head of the baptizer
still fed a slow-expanding crimson pool.
the servant knew at once he'd be no wiser
for witnessing a spectacle so cruel.
the prophet's eyes recalled those of his lover,
though gazing out from an extinguished soul.
'i'd pay as much,' he thought, 'if she'd uncover
the seventh veil. but whose the head t'would roll?'
then kneeling to the floor began to clean
the blood while dreaming of the maid, his queen.

Posted by judah in:  Verse & Prose   

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