Cauldron Anthology Issue 3: Year 1 Collection Cauldron Anthology Year One Issue FINAL 1.17.18 | Page 19

the siren’s lament
Linda M. Crate
my soul is one of song
prose and poetry
dance in my heart and mind
both,
and you were my favorite
song for a time;
but you always spurned my sexual
advances unless you were
in the mood
too—
once you told me that i was
a succubus,
but i have always been a siren because
music and water touch every point
of my soul;
i wanted you to be my heart’s duet
the melody in me that
never died—
i wanted you fully as i gave myself
fully to you,
but i was always told that i was too
driven and too focused upon
my sexual appetites
that i should pray for redemption;
but why should i be
shamed for feeling the same way you did
for me?
i suppose it’s because i’m a woman
that i should want to be
something innocent and pure,
but i have always been a shade of grey;
honesty, love, and light with a thousand flaws
yet beautiful in my own way.