barefoot i approach the oracle
her slender wrists around her serpents
she dances neath the pale waning moon
stops
she turns her back to me
no answers on her honeyed lips
no reasons save the twirling
and the writhing of the snakes
faces i can see
once beautiful
once kind
once worshipped
once loved
the faces of the goddess
turn away from me
muted laughter where i cannot see
long hair hanging and twirling
hissing but remaining distant
what price
i ask
what price for freedom
what price to speak the words
i know as truth
what price to lose
those once so beloved
for the sake of the morning star
crying no more
my feet bleeding i stumble
i trip i fall
but by twilight
i will learn to fly
who are you to turn away
who are you to stand aloof
to choose not to see
the burning towers
to judge the abductor free
the abducted damned
i will share with you a terrible secret
i am not the spawn of this feeble king
this vain queen
i am the daughter of the sacred one
the first one
who fled the garden
lest she be forever bound
and though you point and mock
and though you jeer and gibber
and though you hate and whisper
and though you stumble through the forest
of your own dark design
i love you still
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