"Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord." No, "if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads." Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." |NRSV ~ Rom 12:19-21
Retribution Unrequited
The Tragedy of Crocus and Smilax
Consider the arrival of the crocuses,
through winter’s slumbering breath,
as Spring’s first color returns,
from Earth’s perennial death.
Once, when of different form,
Crocus saw n’ hoped to flatter.
But in the end, to the nymph,
his attention did not matter.
So, when the croci now appear,
their blossoms no longer care.
For soon they wither n’ die,
leaving no trace of being there.
And so it goes with love spurned,
left to callously wither away.
If its blossom ever had color,
would anyone be able to say.
Why did your lying affection,
Seep from your cold blackheart?
Was satiating your lusting greed,
what you intended from the start?
And when you teased delight,
with beauty you never deigned to bind,
perhaps your bitter sweet perfume,
clouded the reason of my mind.
But who would consider the reason,
when sweet beauty appeared so fair?
So love unrequited… slowly withered,
because in the end you didn’t care.
Now, consider the root that I left behind,
devouring whatever Earth might give,
waiting for the time to come,
whence once again I might live.
Yes, I suffer endless deaths
for the remainder of all days,
still, the gods decreed a price to be paid,
for the deception of your ways.
As a nymph deceiver you were damned,
to a needy existence of the poor,
With a stench to be despised,
for ever and ever more.
And so, as Spring returns each year,
And my crocuses emerge to beguile,
Smilax, now a weed to cling,
must envy our beauty for awhile.
~ Drew Philips
