What hatred boils inside these veins?
I am an ancient queen. And from the
Depths of hell I conjure these demons
To crawl up my spine, to blacken my eyes.
With a serpent's tongue I unhinge my jaws
And cast my face to the sky to wail a
Thousand Banshee screams 'till my breath
Runs dry and my throat is raw and raked.
And you say I know not the ways of a
Sorceress. And you dare call me weak.
And you dare tell me I know not what
Powers I seek inside my heart. And I
Would drive a stake through my wrists
And run blade across bone to show you
I can feel. And I would bleed a river
Of blood served fresh from the kill to
Show you I am real. And inside my soul
Is crying. But how dare you tell me
What you do not know. I pull light from
The sky into crystals before you. I cry
Tears from these eyes that are glass and
Adore you. But you cannot see me. You
Do not know me. You cannot change me.
I am an unshifting form, solid as the earth.
My legs are roots. My arms, branches that
Weather hurricanes. I am a devilish whore.
I am the child of Lore and Knowledge.
What you see, my dear, is what you want
To see. Not that which is really me.
For once upon a time I was ravished and
Used, raped and abused, and I died a death
At their door. But within me, new life began
To grow. Bones hinged, veins reattached,
My mind cleared. That which I feared bore
Children and cried with hungry stomachs.
They grew into powerful warriors: guardians
Of my gates, priestesses of my throne. And
I hear them still when you speak those words:
Their Siren song to lure me down, to cross the
River Styx to Hades' hounds, unwelcomed.
And I whittled this boat with my teeth and
My claws, to forge these swamps in the cold,
Through the fog. And on an island I found you,
Unaware of my shape, unaware of the hate
That seethes within my form. But you presume
To know that which you cannot know. And
Inside me I feel that hatred grow. My wicked
Sisters. Breathe, children. It is now your time
To let your anger shine. And I cast daggers
From my eyes and wrap fire ‘round your lies.
I am an ancient queen. And I am powerful
Beyond measure.

© 2005 - Jennifer