Temptation

[Pilgrim]

Temptation

My friend Zazu sports dappled hair
and costumes from a country far;
she likes bare feet, and on her face
she bears a scar.

We sometimes sit up late and talk
of lovers past and woman's strife;
she says she was a dancer in
some former life.

Zazu can conjure up a feast,
or ointment for a scabrous itch;
for she who was a dancer once
is now a witch.

In Zazu's garden I have seen
an ebony rose, a raven white;
and on a summer's evening once
there danced a sprite.

She says she'll teach me all her craft
if I will her apprentice be,
and help preserve her knowledge for
posterity.

It might be fun to be a witch;
to settle scores and wealth acquire.
To bend this nasty, brutish world
to my desire.