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I was gentleness and sweetness.
See what this diluted world has made of me?
I make love to myself
To forget the wrongs I have done
In my own name.

Seeking independence showed
Me my price; taught
To apply currencies to
The currents through which once
Flowed only passion
And placid dreams.

I was honesty and bravery.
See what these costs have
Taught me?
Trembling hands woven of scars
All earned in earnest battle
Against invisible demands.

Oh, the silk that the widows spin
(and how they croon,
Swooning from their marble-topped,
Photographed,
Precipice.)
Oh, they remember.
As they weave my snares, sing
In their brittle, hollow breaths:
"I was gentleness and sweetness.
See what this diluted world has made of me?"