Beauty, (from Cantares Mexicanos)

Beauty-painted viper, stay, be still

while I dream-imprint your subtle pattern.

I shall weave it in a gift-cloth[1]

To entice a lover.

                        Her beauty shall exalt

alone, of all that shines,

You: ever-present serpent[2].

Image: Gaboon Viper

Image: The Brazen Serpent, William Blake

---

[1] “Gift” means “Poison” in German; hence, the viper’s venom, which in cloth-form subjugates the separate ego, as does love.

[2] “Ever-Present” is a double anagram: “Ever”=Reve (“Dream” in French); “Present”=Serpent.