Babylon

by Alexandra Seidel

You mistress with the alabaster tongue

whose lungs breathe the smoke of gold and copper

I see your skirts that are woven from past grandeur

hail the desert

like a lost lover would

your eyes are cast from temples

shiny stones, incense veiled

mists hide your belly as you dance

bare-footed in the warm sands of yesterday

many were your thrones

and your gates still ring

with the echo of your voice

Babylon the Grand! Babylon the Undying!

Look, this is Babylon

where all fates are cast in starshine

you birthed the zodiac

and you birthed legend

Babylon the Undying, Babylon

whose breath is gardens’ green and roses

fierce lions were as pets to you and it is not like

you never had claws of your own

Dance, mistress, dance

wave your skirts in the desert’s sands…

and flash your tongue,

and twinkle a sleep-drowned eye

to today’s passers-by

who came

--still come--

to see you dance

your feet to dust