An Ode to Muses to Melpomene

Aphrodite's Ares

I lean over a pool of tar, not the salty sea.

My toes tease revelation,

As they dangle, threatening to break the surface,

While I dip fruits into the icing of my tears.

I only awaken when the world fears the loneliness of the cosmos

And obscures the chariots of the universe with obsession,

Like the caged drops of Phaethon's amber sun.

I summon earthquakes and boil the ground with volcanic foam

And stand naked over my reflection,

As you pull the ropes wrapped around my neck to meet your gaze.

You warn me that I was not permitted to swim,

When all I craved was to drown before reaching the shore.

You fish out the skulls of those who tried to save me

That I whittle into shells

And play you Zeus's decree.

Spit on me, so that I may douse my lips in chaos

And ignite myself on your cigarette.

I scorch your tattoos into Xs and Os,

Oh, Oh, Ohs.

My speech now slurs into cursive fonts,

As you stand before me with Dionysus's juice,

Never blinking, as you watch me burn.

I admire that the liquid before you is not only used for drink,

While you lay your scarred palm against mine

And twist my hair into curls.

I may not rule over the heavens of Olympus,

Or part the almighty seas,

But I leave bridges of men behind me

Each time I step over the black embers of war.

Join me in the maze I cooled before for you,

That I lined with The Muses' charred poetry,

The enchanting sound of Orpheus's willow lyre,

And a fence fashioned from tattered hearts.

You allow every man's temptation to enter this battlefield,

Following the smell of rotted flesh,

And stab these bodies to form a pathway of your own.

As you pour wine into your soul,

Engulf yourself in this flame.

Take off your armor,

Ignore the sentiments of matrimony,

And consummate your forbidden fruit.