The Temptress

From “The Poems of John H. Watson”
Reprinted By M. Vernet
The Missing Years 1883 – 1886

The Temptress

While you lie beside me in peaceful slumber
I caress your soft curls with my hand
Scent wafting up like a spice island.
All is tranquil, till I remember.

The Temptress waits for a new day.
Her vials and needles make a way
For My Love to fade and leave my side.
She takes you on a wild and perilous ride,
Forgetting vows and consequences
Once her enticing dance commences.
I can only be there afterward
When she is done and throws you to the curb.
She sneers and tells me I can not break her hold
She will not give you up till you are lifeless and cold.
She lifts your face and I see the need,
Her lilting song is all you heed.

The Temptress waits for a sullen night
When dark moods fall and dim the light.
She calls you when you are alone
Out on the streets and far from home.
The aroma of spices cling to her gown,
In ropes of silk she will have you bound.
Smiling while she takes your hand
Promising a wondrous peaceful land,
A land where despair hides in the shadows,
Full of tonight and no tomorrows.
But dawn will bring the demons back,
Tomorrow arrives forsaken and black.

But as tomorrow is reborn
I will fight The Temptress who holds the cords.
Cutting you free with a double-edged sword,
Standing with you to face the dawn.

I will stand and expose your enemy.
To win your battle I will give you my strength.
To help you I will go to any length.
But I fear you love her more than me.

And if you choose the tempting fiend
My heart will break never to mend.
The love of a lifetime will bitterly end.
I will wake tomorrow from my pretty dream.

But if you choose the uphill climb
I will be beside you if you stumble
Helping you over the rocks and rubble
To a land of tomorrow green and sublime.