Kiss me, Celia.
Kiss me, Kate.
To each of the other nine,
rain your love on my face
like thick moss. We have spun
our webs poorly each day,
waking to pass
eeking time,
fly-poison slow
in the light hours.
Who was he
to follow us past the silver and gold forests,
to crack off each branch
with no goal other
than to separate
and wed?

The diamond grove is frosty
by the river. Our nighttime revels
misunderstood,
we twelve, with eleven,
each one for twelve,
were envied
by commoners without vision,
hiding our woman
kissing dances,
sister loving dances,
horizontal what is wrong
with women
touching women
dances. And why must we
contrive these twelve
fantasy princes
for the benefit of an old soldier
who does not know
what to tell the king
when he asks?

He should not
have come invisible
(what's more at all), or listened
to the leechy hag
who made a point to tell him.

I hope his eyes were wide
as ponds that night! I hope his mind
was straight as rails and bent.
I may marry him at last
my dears,
but will not stop
this dance with you
for him.

Kiss me, Celia.
Kiss me, Kate.
To each of the other nine
rain your love on my face
like thick moss, weave a lattice
fast enough to blind
the inobservant

We have spun our webs poorly
each day, but soon can wear
the mourner's garb of black--
Black, as we wander the ramparts
where they'll say there's a curse
on every family bride.
Black, when our husbands
sadly pass us
one by one
in pine coffins.

And black it shall be
with a cunning dash of red.
Because we will be
spiders, sisters,
and soldiers
will be flies.

Only fools
would follow
into that sinking bed,
where we touch lengthily,
pass ourselves from
arm to arm like flax,
We are bounteous.
We are beautiful.
We were harming
no one.

Now,
we must ask him
into our parlors,
make haste to
fly this kingdom
by night.

So you can
shut that door
and lock it
behind you, youngest.

Among ourselves,
and that alone,
can we be free.

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