I used to belong to a group called Poet’s Potpourri
in Abbotsford, B.C. Donna Bishop, who
led the group, was adamant that poetry was a performing art. So every year, she would arrange a special
event where all members and other poets from the Lower Mainland could “perform”
their poetry with a microphone in front of a live audience. The year I read the following poem, it was
the first time I was on a stage, with a microphone, reading to a live audience. The poem was well received, and one listener
did tell me that what I wrote was so true, so very true, and he knew that from his
own experience.
SWEET
BETRAYAL
Alone with the full moon
He dreamed of Love
To ease the pain of singleness
A sweet caress, to guide each lonely step
His longing drew her to him
She kissed him softly and eased his pain
She made him feel a man again
The Lady he turned to in his need
He gave his life to her
Inch by inch, hour by hour
Through the years
By her obsessed
She him possessed
He gave up all to be with she
His family, fortune, self-respect
To keep his love for her intact
From all the world he would retract
His only choice to live for her
At first, she loved him well
She held him close and stopped his pain
Always there to meet his need
Then he desired more and more
For when apart
His empty life
Was more than he could bear
He was by her bewitched
No children would she bear him
No friends would she allow
Unless she had dominion, before her they must bow
He trusted her with all his heart
And did not see
His loss of Soul
When perilous hands
Covered up his eyes
Nor did he see
His loss of strength and potency
Living just for she
The blindness he embraced
Loving and trusting her
Manhood lost
And mind diminished
Accepting all that she might do
In blinding trust he did allow
The rope she tied around his neck
Knowing she would kill him
Powerless to resist
He died of love
For the Lady in the bottle.
__________________________
By Lisa
A. Hatton
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