Her hands, her lap, sit silently still
Her attention briefly not on her work
She looks out past her window sill
Where quiet shadows now do lurk
In the stillness of the sinking sun
The blissful day so quickly done

A golden ray slips through the trees
Then to the floor up to her knees
It spreads contagiously ‘cross her chest
Then to her face so sweetly blessed
Till she did sit in magnificent light
Soaking it all in to her delight

Her hands did move so suddenly
And from their work they did quickly flee
To touch her face and golden brow
Relishing the beauty she now possessed
Her breathing steady within her chest
And arms extending like gentle boughs

She could not stand—no, only sit
Her body melting within her little chair
These new desires she desperately wanted to submit
But blessed she be and with despair
She knew her place and did not dare
Take off her veil; let down her hair

Instead she sat with baited breath
The golden arrow plunging in her breast
It’s subtle poison meant unholy death
And by this want she was not possessed
Instead she knew the thing she yearned
Must slowly die and quickly burn

The flaming veil sat in her lap
A vile, venomous, vicious trap
She pushed it off and stomped it down
Controlling the fire spreading o’er her gown
Compelling her to willing give
Away this life she chose to live

Her judgment was strong and just as well
These thoughts she threw down straight to hell
She stood to calm her heart to slow
And looked outside to see ahead
A rose that grew so crimson red
Her eyes and soul did warmly glow

The night was falling before her eyes
And now the darkness filled the skies
She put her work down on a table
Then thought of the tale and ageless fable:
It is true a rose so red
Can be no other name instead.