LAMIA  (sonnet trilogy)
Copyright Sara L. Russell, 22nd September 2004

        I

Within fathomless chambers of your dreams,
Past glittering remains of lost desire,
Like fallen empires borne on lava streams,
Therein I fly, soaring on wings of fire.

Rare sandalwood imparts her smoky breath,
Sweetens the air wherever I alight,
Even unto Hades' caverns of death,
Bringing your shuttered eyes eternal night.

I gaze, unblinking as the eye of Ra,
Toward the sun and her attendant spheres,
I know the genesis of every star,
Each wormhole, where all matter disappears.

Bold deities tremble beneath my glare,
Fall into heedless sleep - and I'll be there.


      II

Answers to why he cannot sleep at night
Aimlessly circle in his tortured mind.
Dark hair in disarray, face deathly-white,
He strives to leave the conscious world behind.

And still she comes, despite his fervent prayers,
With kisses more ferocious than the first,
To dissipate all memories and cares,
Pinning him down, to slake her torrid thirst.

Soon hushed entreaties melt to honeyed sighs.
He feels the draught of wingbeats on his face,
Opium petals flutter to his eyes,
She presses close; his heart begins to race.

Daybreak arrives, the same as all the rest:
He wakes supine, with claw marks on his chest.


      III

Glide down from Brighton's bright Pavilion,
Feeling the salt sea breeze upon my breast;
Beneath the Arches, mortal men dream on,
While I alight nearby, to take my rest.

Now mermaids rest their voices and depart
To deeper fathoms than mankind has seen,
Swirling through chasms in the ocean's heart
To rest on undulating beds of green.

Now pigeons wake, now seagulls speed their flight,
And Oscar's sphinx has folded her great wings.
Mankind awakes to greet the morning light
With eagerness for unimportant things.

Soon comes nightfall. When everything is still
I shall return for you, to take my fill!