Alan S. Austin
Arizona Playwright • Writer • Poet
  

Ariadne in Old Age Addresses the Gods

So please your graces. I am but a common woman
Not bred to all the niceties of high society.
I speak in a common way, have few virtues
Other than I see the world for what it is,
A cesspit of vice, and greed.
And let me tell you gentle men of noble birth
With your canes and fancy ruffs and bad teeth
I know how to fuck, which seems to interest you.
I moved my fan like a windmill
To please your little cocks.
I can fondle your hair, caress your loins
Better than a carpenter his tool.
And I gave you the key.
If you have virtue, then I have no price.
If you are foul as most men are
Then I love vice.
My children are gone to the Americas
To sniff the air of freedom.
I gave them my blessing.
My husbands, bless their souls,
Moulder in their graves,
And I miss them. My last was a good fellow,
Virtuous by nature and kind to all.
The dregs of my life I give to you,
The charm and wit of many years.
Remember that my Love unravelled death.
Now I shall lay me down to pray
You Gods will love me for my sins
For they are many but my heart is clean.