[for Joyce]

dark and sultry
sleek and damned
sin rolls off her ruby red lips
it hangs around her in perfumed plumes
with smoke curling from her devilish grin
spiced jazz songs and a swinging voice are but a backdrop
for the show she puts on.

her dress flits and flies
fluttering at the tops of her thighs
her stockings shine in the dim lights
a pure white glove beckons
just one taste and it’s never enough.

a dangerous game that only she wins
a virago vixen intent on her prey
not always male and never expected
she strikes when defenses are low.

a few too many illicit drinks
a dance gone too far
just one of the many possibilities she presents
the poison is the victim’s to pick
she only provides the quick fix that sends them spiraling further.

no longer a girl, naïve and confused, lost in her own head;
she came crashing back to earth just in time to watch as everything fell apart.

the earth shook with her sobs
the sky wept with her tears
salt contaminated the earth and dried out her heart.

it never takes long to transform into a monster
to turn into the very thing despised by all and feared by many
whispers and rumors dancing in the deadly air
they speak but they do not understand
as is usually the case.

she shows too much skin
dances too freely without the inhibitions that hang heavy
gabs too easily about the trivial
whispers too sweetly to beaus already claimed.

she’s sex and she’s sin
but she’s only what they allow her to be
she’s only a silken devil because they crave it
because they need it.

heartless and icy
cold that cuts to the bone
shimmers in her sharp cyan eyes
focused and intelligent
she knows exactly what she does
but she never slows down.

a fast girl at her core
easy to bed and hard to wed
girls of her kind are truly rare
she’d rather be a maid than married
sin is the name of the game she deftly dances through.

she’s a skirt to chase
a chance to get high
not the material to bring home to mother
and that’s the fun.

she practically runs the speak
with her wanton ways
and covetable skills.

she’s ardent and apocalyptic
the licentious beginning and malignant end
an irresistible deplorable mezzo
a carafe of carcinogenic characteristics
and yet they always take the gloved hand with a dizzied smile of a fool in a fictitious love story.

lust clouds their eyes and frees their wallets
she becomes the air they breathe
and the ground she walks they worship
she’s a capricious goddess they aim to please.

unfortunately when daybreaks
reality sets in and the luster of sin wears thin
the money is exchanged and promises are kept
there’s always nightfall
but there is never satisfaction.