The fey Persian Prince

I’ve lost you entirely, irredeemably
I’ve misplaced the Persian Prince of tales

Does this smack of carelessness
Of indifference, or cautiousness?

I know I have forfeited your beauty
And I shall never find its like again
For this has happened to me before.

The alien, exquisite calligraphy of faces
Banned by curses more violent than strangers’
The strength patterns on my candle are melting
Fey lines for Aydeen, lover of the gay man
I have danced in clearings, led by fairies
Where laws are more ancient than good and evil
I correctly identify changelings and imps
Not least of all in myself
The blood in my veins is tinged with silver
And you know where to find my dwelling below the stones
I am present in the air, superfluous as music
But I provoked love, always a dangerous thing
In creatures devoid of heart and laws.

Recognizing my breach of etiquette
I apologized promptly and pirouetted my way out
Very little torture was necessary
Very little silver was shed
So I left the Aryan fairy, long-limbed and lithe
A smoker of incense and a weaver of purple intricacies
Many nights I watched his peaceful face and cradled his velvet soft head
I straddled his body and kneaded his flesh
Preparing for the end
Violence is acceptable to fairies, and compassion boring

I was swift and precise
I am gifted and alive
I would have given my life for you
I had to indulge in the betrayal of my own faith
And loose belief in my own words

But we laugh at promises and human belief in continuity
You have taught me flightiness and flicker
And you have taught me well
The curse is on you already
I have let Time loose on you
And I have let your weakness accomplish its fate

A stormy night, long from now, with fiercely howling winds
You may search out my dwelling
But if you have a human heart I will laugh at you
And erase the path
Or I may send you on the road of a thousand voices
To become lost and drown and aware in turn
For my power has drawn on the Lord of the Undeworld
A patron of depths unknown to you
And you shall not step that I’ll have set the ground beneath your feet

And meet strange and stainless creatures
Of fierce manes, plutonic stares, entirely devoid of mercy and compassion
No part of you will ever be found or remembered
Because you are now fading, which is unfit for a prince
You shall retreat to fairies’ flimsy memories

I alone will bear witness of your past glory
But I won’t share it – you did nothing epic
You will beg for scraps I won’t volunteer
And generally won’t keep you alive
I am wise and I am unsuspectably strong
You are despondent, and I was your swan’s song
I took the last of your beauty in
And as much as you were a vampire
I remained alive because I never partook in betrayal