Song Of Psyche

(album: Share This Place: Stories And Observations - 2007)

Shall I tell a tale of love and of jealousy
And of how a mortal found her own destiny
Born a maiden of luminous beauty
And revealed she was a flower so heavenly

But by this admiration I'm doomed you see
The smite of a goddess upon me
Now I'm sent to wed one of dragon-breed
Oh dear Venus I meant no impiety

And so the girl was left alone on a mountaintop
Until with gentle breath Zephyr she to a palace brought
For the fates have dained not Venus's wishes wrought
But instead that those famed arrows would share her heart

We had happiness there but in secrecy
In darkness we loved without need to see
But convinced to unveil his identity
Great winds, betrayed, flew fast away from me

And so she wondered on the land searching far and wide
While he lay sequestered by his indignant mother's side
She prepared to face the implications of her desire
Approached the gates where Habit seized her and made her cry

Oh trouble and sorrow please leave me be
Has your mistress no heart to bid me clemency
I love her most sweetly and fervently
'Tis only of this I am guilty

Then the goddess drug her to a disordered heap of seeds
Commanding before night the sorting task must be complete
The mess of lentils, corn and barley and poppy seeds
Did loom impossible to weary and worn Psyche

I stand overwhelmed with humility
But hark underfoot, earthborn you pity me
Oh nimble nurselings rush to my need
Dear brothers and sisters of humanity
Took each grain by grain
Made piles of the same
The light of nature came to me

Oh Myrmidons oh gentle beasts
I asked you not, still you saved me
Such diligence grant me this lesson teach
Now consciousness have I to keep

But not enough this single victory
Bid she was impossibilities
To collect the golden fleece
The waters from the cruellest peak
And the beauty of Persephone

These three more tasks completed she
Afraid she was but never weak
Then when cast in Stygian sleep
Love flew and roused her from the deep

Oh counsel above, oh Jupiter
You welcome me into your theatre
With this golden goblet of ambrosia
I'll cherish the lessons I've learned from the
Tower and greenery
And the royal bird's great beak
The ants who rescued me
Yes it takes strength to receive