They Tarnished Him Poem by Windsor Guadalupe Jr

The chiming of the
Serpent’s lyre is
Beguiling.

The chimera’s
Serpent-like hisses
Toll for the
Bare -

When one is in total
Need of subsisting,
He longs to pry
Like a callow bud -
Unspoken to,
Towered by the shadows
And never watered
Nor sluiced.

That is here they
Pluck him from
The serene gardens…

Only to watch him
Shed his petals
Until his thorns

Are the only ones
Seen,
Spoken of and about,
Drenched.