Filomena Pereira
Retros
1995


Filomena Pereira commented on this poem:

The poem below was inspired by Lilith in the spring of 1995. It came to me at a point
when I was 'stuck' trying to start the chapter of my thesis which covers the literature
inspired by Lilith over the past 200 years.





I met the Queen of Shadows and her Demon Lover while on a walk in the neighborhood.
She was wearing her red hair, but I noticed her lover's eyes.
I thought they would be summering in the Soul and had not expected to find them in the neighborhood.
His eyes called to me in recognition.
We had met once before upon the dance floor.
That was long ago before I made my way into the dark chamber where they dwell.
She has no eyes.
She sees not her lover's eyes.
I am her eyes.
We had danced the seven portals before I lost my memory in the darkness of the Well.
In the darkness, the chamber danced and only voices filled the empty space.
The three of us danced.
The summer passed in long, dry days.
The winter came and I returned home to the old neighborhood.
I had not expected them to visit, but they have come.
Now they will dwell with me this summer and we will dance once again.
My memory will return of those days in the dark chamber, the route I took there and the route that led me out.
I will remember who she is. I will look into his eyes.
I will drink the darkness of the Well and remember my Life.