Scarlet Letters
Anna K. Larsen
Daughters of Eve, gather ye 'round
On this night when spirits abound
And listen to those who've gone before
Past the roses at the prison door
And pausing at that lonely gate
Gone bravely forward to face their fate.
Now they whisper of their dark sins
Taking us back to where it begins:
to the fruit of knowledge gleaming red,
to the face of passionate blush,
to the purging flame from which they fled,
to the warm life-giving crimson rush.
The night goes on, each tale the same,
Each silently suffered slanderous fame
With rigid backs and faces of stone
They bravely bore the torment alone.
Not to warn but to inspire,
They dare us to face the shame and fire.
"Learn, love and live!" they call in the night,
"It is every Daughter of Eve's right."
For there is no sin in a rose bloom
Reaching for the golden sun and sky.
The sinner seals the rose's doom
With a pluck, for it withers and dies.
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