LILITH

  

   

         Lililili-lililili-lililili-lililili-lililili-lililili-lililili-toooooooooooo!          



         My wailing echoes in the dome of the sky. 



         Lililili-lililili-lililili-lililili-lililili-lililili-lililili-toooooooooooo!          



         My keening quivers the veil of darkness. 



         



         I am the darkest dancer. 



         I offer my bones to the sirocco. 



         



         I am the nightbird, lashing my rage across the red sand. 



         I am the shadow of the moon, forced to concede my brightness to the sun.          



         I am the body of the woman, ordered to lie beneath the man. 



         But I do not yield well. 



         



         I chose exile over submission. 



         No more the sweet life of the lush gardens in the sheltered valley,          



         With rivers of water and milk, honey and wine, 



         Every tree fragrant with rich fruit, 



         And meat always at the end of my knife. 



         



         Now I dance barefoot upon the dry grit and sharp pebbles. 



         Nothing but flat and barren land here, 



         Where even the scorpion will not crawl. 



         I sing beside the bitterest of seas,  



         Too heavy for tides, 



         And too salty for fish. 



         



         Those who stayed in that garden fear me now. They call me demon, 



         Though they were the ones who first killed my children. 



         



         But now I can claim theirs. 



         For all the young ones who are still undiminished are mine. 



         My desert is wide, 



         And here they can sing as loudly and fiercely as they please. 



         I teach them to blend into the night wind - 



         Lil-layla, Lil-layla, Lil-layla, Lil-layla, Lil-layla! 



         



         We no longer recognize our own screams. 



         © Jezibell
More  of Jezibell's poetry can be found on Shira's  website or click below