So tell me a story, love, sing it to me once....
It’s already written, at least the opening lines
Tell me how a prince becomes a king
with only a word from his true queen
How a nymph becomes a goddess,
her children, their children, little gods
gathered at her feet like tiny wild saints 
beseeching their Madonna for a smile
Tell me how he waited, ages out of time,
longing for that kiss of raven and snow, 
and rubied lips just barely parted
How golden eyes set loose his charm 
from uncounted days of longing lust
Tell me how they invented passion
on sands of coral pink, and unsated, taught it 
to the mermaids in foamy waters nearby
How their hearts beat solidly together,
and their bodies left the earth as mists
in their unguarded moments, hard won
So tell me that story, darling, cry on me
when you hurt, and bite my lips hard
when you kiss me, I won’t flinch from pain
I know the story far too well to judge
Have known it deep within, never saying,
but never forgetting, phrase or verse
of its cloudy image, adrift in time, alone,
the looking glass of every hope of mine