neptune's game
by rhiannon macgregor

upon the shore of the tumbling sea
tossed to land from it's foamy waves
my love came whispering to me
of starry nights and sunlit days
and never gave i single thought
nor any explanation sought
for his presence on the shore
but loved him thus forevermore
and reveled in his mysterious ways

and blissfuly i was his bride
the envy of the Gods were we
we built our home upon the tides
our balcony the shining sea
two pieces of a puzzle met
so passionately we lived, and yet
old Neptune from his bower crept
and from my side, with anger, swept
my lover far away from me

upon the sands i cried in vain
and wrestled with this God of war
to have my love returned again,
restored to me forevermore
and yet in envy did he keep
my lover in the icy deep
and jest amongst his minions how
in our bliss we did allow
ourselves to be his spiteful whore

and from a distance, hoisting sail,
a passing ship did hear the sound
of my lament, a weeping wail
that forced the frigate far aground
and to the deep each man did go
suffocating far below
the churning waves of Neptune's lair
and found my lover pining there
in deep despair, profound.

the melee gave him ample chance
to flee his prison's watery hold
but Neptune's chanted, mystic trance
cast in darkest pallor, cold
enthralled him in a fiendish spell
as waves brought forth a rolling swell
and laid him here upon my knee
a stranger to my love and me
by mystic words cajoled.

from my side he made haste
and left me with my tattered soul
he laid my broken heart to waste.
Neptune had achieved his goal.
and with no hope for evermore
i breathed my last, then breathed no more
and as my soul departed there
my love returned to find yet fair;
his lover dead among the shoals

Neptune's spell had short effect
upon an abiding lover's vow
and quickly did my love suspect
by whom he was enchanted, how
and there he knelt down by my side
embracing his untimely bride
then raising his fist to the water's edge
my lover made a dying pledge
to be with me somehow

upon the shore of the tumbling sea
you may find one whose sorrow preys
while remembering her, remembering me,
our starry nights, our sunlit days.
he has but one enthralling thought
a single explanation sought
for Neptune's cruel destructive game
for devastations inhumane
and his truculent ways

still my lover has not withdrawn
nor joined me in my vast repose
he lingers every waking dawn
upon the tide that ebbs and flows
despising Neptune for his lot
he stays there lest it be forgot
that he once loved what lay in waste
though no one knows what he once faced
nor any of his waking woes

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about this poem:

this poem was inspired by edgar allen poe's 'annabelle lee'. i love the dark nature of that poem, and wanted to make one similar, only from the female perspective. it was written in mid '99, but seriously re-written in march '00. i like it much better now.