Nominis Umbra (The Shadow of a Name)

Sister Ophelia
dances in the garden.
“Come dance in the garden with me,”
she entreats
And with tear stained lips
we sway to music
only she & I can hear.
“Dance to forget, forget to live
‘tis the only way,”
the haunting refrain seems to say.

She looks in fascination at
our reflection in the pool.
“Love is a foolish game,”
she tells me,
“and I am Fortune’s Fool.
But you, my dear sister, are so beautiful,
you’d best heed what I say.
Pluck not the flowers,
twill you astray
but dance, instead, in the garden with me.”

And she leads me deeper
into the garden’s shadows.
Far deeper then I’ve ever gone before,
into depths
neglected & lost,
wild & overripe.
For no one ventures here
to the pool of tear’s reflection.

My senses overwhelmed,
I step away,
but Ophelia always leads me back.
She steps out into the water
that laps at her flesh
& turns with a smile.
“Dance with me, sister.
Come dance in the water with me.”