The Betrayer
By Thomas Herr
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It is dark, it is strange
Approached by the princess of the tribe
Subdued by her regal beauty
The set of her firm breasts
The secrets of her ancestry revealed
The promise of pleasure
Magical berries and smoke to share we steal off into the night.
We set out for the green trees to set up camp, intoxicated.
Out on the trail she summons her prince warrior big and stout and full of smell
I hooked up with the princess of the tribe and
End up a prisoner under the green trees
Waiting for the prince to sleep
His warrior knife concealed beneath his cloth
At dawn I steal away, betrayed,
-- The betrayer --
Leaving promises of nothing
Taking her ceremonial garb with me on the long flight home
Alone
Lovely. Thematically, this reminds me a bit of the Beatles' "Norwegian Wood," which has always been a favorite of mine.
ReplyDeleteI really like the line, "leaving promises of nothing." For me, it's very visual, as much as the intangible can be. Nice poem!
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