Oh, I can smile for you, and tilt my head,
And drink your rushing words with eager lips,
And paint my mouth for you a fragrant red,
And trace your brows with tutored finger-tips.
When you rehearse your list of loves to me,
Oh, I can laugh and marvel, rapturous-eyed.
And you laugh back, nor can you ever see
The thousand little deaths my heart has died.
And you believe, so well I know my part,
That I am gay as morning, light as snow,
And all the straining things within my heart
You'll never know.

Oh, I can laugh and listen, when we meet,
And you bring tales of fresh adventurings, --
Of ladies delicately indiscreet,
Of lingering hands, and gently whispered things.
And you are pleased with me, and strive anew
To sing me sagas of your late delights.
Thus do you want me -- marveling, gay, and true,
Nor do you see my staring eyes of nights.
And when, in search of novelty, you stray,
Oh, I can kiss you blithely as you go ....
And what goes on, my love, while you're away,
You'll never know.

Never love a simple lad,
  Guard against a wise,
Shun a timid youth and sad,
  Hide from haunted eyes.

Never hold your heart in pain
  For an evil-doer;
Never flip it down the lane
  To a gifted wooer.

Never love a loving son,
  Nor a sheep astray;
Gather up your skirts and run
  From a tender way.

Never give away a tear,
   Never toss a pine;
Should you heed my words, my dear,
  You're no blood of mine!

God gave Earth an Adam;
To Adam, He gave Eve.
God gave them a garden --
One which they'd never leave.

God gave them an order.
The tree, see there, it stood?
"You do not eat the fruits there."
And yet, He knew they would.

God placed there a Snake.
The Snake waited for man.
When Eve came near the serpent,
He told her of God's plan.

"God did not create this,"
The Snake, so softly, said.
"It was here before Him:
The one from which He fled."

"God gave me an order,"
Cried Eve, without defeat.
"This is the Tree of Knowledge;
Its fruit, I cannot eat."

"God gave you a garden.
He wants for you to stay.
This tree is what He fears;
It leads you two astray.

God is what you're fearing.
He, in turn, fears this;
Through knowledge, you have power.
Greater, even, than His."

Eve picked fruit forbidden,
Which she and Adam ate.
God condemned them both,
Death now part of their fate.

Oh, both my shoes are shiny new,
        And pristine is my hat;
My dress is 1922....
        My life is all like that.

They tell me I am a passing fancy,
that kissing the vapor of my skin is
like the ***** of sacred chambers.
They tell me I am cancer of the skin,
that my cells divide, unstoppable,
ignite the flesh at a lethal price of taste.
They whisper in my ear, sorrowful
pleas and sinful lullabies of promise;
and when tears slither acidic and sear
rosy imprints of a trail in the apples of
their cheeks,
they'll snivel and sniffle:
“But by God, I loved you.”
Despite the surly mood they often displayed,
like the tongue of silver from a metallic
taste of venom on the planes of my skin.
So, I told them I tire of synonyms of a same
word;
that loving a different person of different flesh
remains the same as long as character does not
fluctuate.

Once, when I was young and true,
  Someone left me sad--
Broke my brittle heart in two;
  And that is very bad.

Love is for unlucky folk,
  Love is but a curse.
Once there was a heart I broke;
  And that, I think, is worse.