An Arranged Wedding

We all know the story of the church bell hymns

The dance of golden spirals, white dress, and the rich embedded red wine.

Spill it down on the floor with the taste of Eros, the passionate hug and kiss

Before it strikes at hunting hour which allows the fly of Artemis’s arrow.

Dance together in matrimony, “I do” in vow, til death do part.

And sing to me your Romeo, about his wounded heart.

How when you left that chalice in your hand fell, sidle to the floor

And roll. Your touch was unfelt, cold and distant

As the locks of your blonde hair ringleted across the marbling,

And how he cried holding you in his arms. The taste of red wine

Laced with the night’s tears, strangled by poison out of a boisterous fear.

He knew you were happy, knew you would cry. Never before did he think that

In his jealousy, his time, his days, his life: That you would cry.

You cried as you fell to the ground, how your throat locked and the poison seeped

Eyes wide you reached for that starry sky and fell with your chalice’d hand at your hip

The red wine spilled on your white dress as the church bell hymns sang.

And he whispered to you, “I'm sorry that I even loved you.”