TO ST. PHILIP NERI

Your happy heart desired to go abroad,

  On a mission to the exotic Far East;

Where you might convert lots of souls,

  And become a holy Jesuit priest.

But as a merry man with natural goodness,

  You were drawn by God to Rome;

You had no money and you had no plan,

  Yet the Eternal City became your home.

With Socratic discussions on street corners,

  You most pleasantly evangelized;

Yet you did it in such a fun-loving way,

  That the people never felt chastised.

One Pentecost something special happened --

  You felt the peace of The Dove;

When a globe of fire entered your mouth,

  You almost died of ecstatic love.

You inspired many in the confessional,

  So that the truth they understood,

And the people always heard you saying,

  “When shall we begin to do good?”

TO ST. MONICA

You agreed to marry Patricius the pagan,

  Humbly submitting to your parents’ will,

You were very kind and generous to him,

  Though he responded by treating you ill;

But about a year before leaving this world,

  He finally accepted the Nicene Creed,

Through your example of faith and love,

  His stubborn soul was finally freed.

However, you still had much work to do,

  For your son Augustine broke your heart,

He was a teacher who was very arrogant,

  And he strutted because he was smart;

But you vigorously persisted in prayer,

  Fasting with tears over his empty life,

When he met the great Bishop Ambrose,

  The Spirit pierced your son like a knife.

It was on Easter that the saintly Ambrose

  Joyfully baptised your prodigal son

Who went on to become a Church Father,

  And many victories over heretics won;

The end of your life was so very sweet

  As Augustine treated you like gold,

You’re the patroness of motherhood,

  And of your story many have been told.

TO ST. LOUIS DE MONTFORT

You are a man in love,    

oh so deeply in love    

with Our Lady,    

so with strength    

and with courage    

as a knight of Christ,    

you cavalierly show us    

the short way,    

the easy way,    

to the Queen of All Hearts;    

as we follow the illustrious example    

of John Paul the Great    

and mild Mother Teresa,    

you very confidently lead us        

to the Blessed Virgin        

so that she might    

graciously guide us to  

the Babe of Bethlehem;    

the jealous Jansenists,    

irked by your missionary success,        

perniciously plot against you,        

and you are banished --     

but the flames of divine love,        

like tongues of fire,        

sweetly sweep throughout France    

in the strong driving wind    

of the serene Spirit;

even now in the new millenium    

our lives continue to be    

refreshed and renewed    

by this burning blaze         

as we make our consecration        

to Jesus through Mary:     

totus tuus.

TO ST. BARTHOLOMEW THE APOSTLE

With smug sarcasm you doubted Philip:

  The Christ from Nazareth could not come;

To you it sounded like your friend’s

  Naivete was in reality pretty dumb.

But this Jesus said, smiling softly:

  That he had seen you under the fig tree;

Your spiritual eyes suddenly opened, and

  The true Messiah did you finally see.

You saw Lazarus lazily lurch forward,

  As he stepped out of his rocky grave;

This was one of many amazing miracles

  That in the end your soul did save.

Decades later, you screeched and screamed in pain

  As your sordid killers skinned you alive;

But now your bright eyes see Heavenly glory

   Where for eternity you very happily thrive.

TO ST. JOHN VIANNEY

As a soldier you were really quite inept,

  And as a student you weren’t much,

Although the seminary gave you a chance,

  It seemed holy orders you’d never touch;

But when the good God takes charge,

  There’s nothing that He cannot do,

So through the intercession of Philomena,

  Grace most bountifully fell on you.

Sent to a corrupt village named Ars,

  You woke it up with fiery preaching,

People were flabbergasted by your words

  And threatened by your priestly teaching;

Yet in the little box of the confessional,

  You won a victory over selfish hearts,

Though the devil anxiously pursued you,

   God extinguished all his flaming darts.

So many made pilgrimages to see you,

  And confession lines were terribly long,

But through God’s grace you read their souls,

  Bringing hope to many in the throng;

Thus the devil grew angrier and angrier,

  That’s why the beast ranted and raved,

Still you won over many many souls,

  In God’s mercy they were finally saved.

TO THE HOLY FAMILY

Good St. Joseph, you were sent

To be my wise knightly master,

So that through your assistance

I could reach Heaven faster.

Sweet and holy Queen, you are

So kindly patient and so humble,

The dark one terribly hates you,

For you make him trip and stumble.

Babe of the Incarnation, above you

Swirls the immaculate white Dove,

For now God enters His creation

To show the true depth of His Love.

TO ST. BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX

Good St. Bernard, you love

Our Lord and Our Lady so much:

You were a sincere confessor,

But in the confessional, 

You were too severe,

Far far too severe,

And so the Spirit taught you

Gentleness, sweet gentleness;

Maybe it was from you that

St. Francis de Sales learned,

For he so famously said that

We will catch more flies 

With a spoonful of honey

Than with a barrel full of vinegar.

ST. BERNADETTE OF LOURDES

Your magnificent story I will tell:

The wondrous Miracle of Massabielle;

Our Lady came in breathtaking beauty,

And she knew that you would do your duty;

You came before her as God’s little child,

And looking down on you, she warmly smiled;

She gently asked you to dig in the ground,

And there spring waters were suddenly found;

Cripples bathed in the stream with salty tears,

And walked away whole without any fears;

Then hardened hearts started to melt,

And before the good God they humbly knelt.

A PROFILE OF COURAGE

Eugenio Pacelli is consecrated a bishop,

  In Italy’s historic city of Rome,

But he is flung like a javelin into Germany,

  And Munich is now his home;

Egelhofer sends Commander Seiler

  On a mission filled with human hate,

The truth is Mr. E. thirsts for blood,

  And Pacelli he wishes to assassinate;

Commander Seiler and his gang selfishly strut

  To the bishop’s place of residence,

They’re planning a brash bold attack,

  Plotting his murder with confidence;

They threaten the servant with weapons,

  So she reluctantly lets them in,

Now they await the bishop’s return,

  Thinking victory they will win.

Seiler stands ready at the door,

  With his thugs in a semicircle around,

Armed with loaded guns and grenades,

  Their faces are rather frowned;

When the bishop opens the door,

  Seiler points a pistol at his pectoral cross,

Yet Pacelli fearlessly stands his ground,

  And shows him who is boss;

The holy bishop speaks as soft as an abbot,

  Or even a most prayerful friar,

But his courageous words rip into them,

  Like relentless machine gun fire;

The bishop’s eyes are two spear tips,

  That pierce right through their souls,

And in a daze they gape back at him,

  As motionless as telephone poles.

With empty hands the would-be assassins

  Return to Egelhofer the Extreme,

To his surprise, Pacelli still lives,

  And in the Munich diocese reigns supreme;

The bishop bravely swatted their plans,

  As if they were harmless flies,

Never before had they looked at a priest

  With such powerful paralyzing eyes;

During the Second World War,

  He saved countless lives from Nazi extermination,

And many Jewish people commended him,

  For his covert operation;

This lean, stately figure ran the Church,

  Though he never sought out fame,

He is better known as Pope Pius,

  The Twelfth who has held that name.

TO POPE BENEDICT XVI

As you bashfully smile,

you extend both arms

and wiggle your fingers:

your welcoming wave

is a gentle greeting to

the pilgrims at St. Peter’s.

A prudent theologian,

you write the most

eloquent of encyclicals;

as a classical pianist,

you wisely speak about

true beauty and true art.

In your own quiet way

you shepherd the flock,

for you’re a very holy man;

you’re an obedient son,

a simple man of Love,

a humble genius.

TO MY GUARDIAN ANGEL

Guardian Angel, please pray for us,

Because the devil tempts us to obsess,

We must evade the evil of worldly idols,

And not dream of what to possess;

Thirsting for things can thicken anxiety,

Which can seem to never cease,

We struggle and tuggle with all our might,

And banished is all our peace.

The diabolical dragon swoops down,

Determined all good to destroy,

With the flaming fire of enslaving greed,

He seeks to kill all devotion and joy;

But as our trustworthy guide from Heaven,

With love you sing a sweet prayer,

And your words rise like a happy dove

Higher and higher up into the air.

Your shining shield of protection

Guards us from the devil’s snare,

You deflect the dragon’s temptation,

And it evaporates into the air;

Gratitude is like a stream of living water,

Delightfully refreshing us during the day,

It brings joy to the heart and revives us,

While washing temptation away.

But when the evil one’s persuasive poison

Threatens to seep deep into our heart,

Teach us to think of the Lord Jesus crucified,

So that it pierces our soul like a dart;

When we dance with delight with temptation,

Help us the crucifix recall,

For the cross crushes the devil’s teeth,

And into hellish Styx he will fall.

Meditating on the gore of Golgotha,

Our hearts like tearful candles melt,

Knife-like nails puncture his palms,

And blood trickles to where Our Lady knelt;

Then our foolish obsessions are obliterated,

By the power of His holy love,

And we are magnificently made new,

By His grace flowing from above.

Trying to lure us into obsession,

The devil deceptively dangles his bait,

But seeing you push us out of harm’s way

Only fuels his mad fury and hate;

We escape the avalanche of avarice,

That crushes the soul like snow,

You lead us on a path filled with Light,

And our life in the Spirit does grow.

TO ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST

In humility you

   wear camel’s hair,

And your faith in God

   is extremely rare;

True repentance is

   your counsel for all,

Helping poor sinners

   to avoid a fall;

You detest the cruel

   world’s horrible lies,

For verily you are

   both strong and wise;

Then one day you see

   the holy white Dove,

And know that you

have finally found Love.

WORLDLY ANXIETY

Worldly

anxiety

chokes 

all joy,

and

strangles

all peace.

CHRIST THE COURAGEOUS

Philovanitas didn’t want a spiritual life

  Where she had to follow lots of rules,

For her the Church was run by men

  Who were really a bunch of old fools;

A free life where she could decide

  Was her idea of sensible fun,

So she steered her ship into enticing seas

  While soaking up some sun;

But the evil one launched a surprise attack

  And thunder she started to hear,

A tempest rushed in with frantic fingers

  And tried to strangle her with fear;

Like demonic fireworks, lightning exploded

  Fanatically all across the sky,

And murderous rain came down like daggers,

  So it was impossible for her to stay dry.

Philovanitas was trapped like a captive

  At sea in a savage Storm of Deception,

She spun her ship around in the wild, wicked

  Wind and lost all sense of direction;

She was engulfed by the tangled, twisted

  Waves of venomous and violent temptation,

And so she paid the ultimate price

  For her silly pursuit of sensation;

She stood aghast in terror as the breakers

  Blasted against her vessel,

And her formidable foe was far too strong

  For her to ever even attempt to wrestle;

She said, “Oh, dear Lord Jesus, please please

  Rescue me from this frightfully horrid place,

I’m sincerely sorry for my sins and want

  Nothing more but to see your sweet face!”

She turned around and before her stood

  One whose robe was most dazzlingly white,

On His head was a glistening gold crown,

  Set with gemstones radiant and bright;

With love He compassionately caressed her

  With his wonderfully warm brown eyes,

And his mild, merciful smile rescued

  Her heart and made her spirits arise;

Then He looked up, thrust His arms into the air

  And commanded the storm to be still,

The tempest immediately retreated

  And was obedient to His holy will;

Back fled the thunderclouds, back fled

  The lightning bolts, to the dark abyss of hell,

The sun now shone cheerfully, the sea now

  Splashed gleefully, and all was well.

At this the evil one foamed at the mouth

  Like the monstrous madman Othello,

He wanted revenge and he wanted it now

  So he vehemently started to bellow;

In a gruesomely gravelly voice he raged,

  “All hands on deck! Attack! Attack!”

And as the pirate demons sped by,

  He gave each one a menacing whack;

The pirate demons loaded up their weapons,

  For the spiritual blitzkrieg was on,

Time was of the essence, otherwise

  Their opportunity might be all gone;

They boarded their ghastly ghost ships

  Like a swarming plague of flies,

They fanatically followed their emperor,

  And he be the Father of Lies.

Soon the ghost galleons’ powerful armada

  Half-surrounded Philovanitas’ ship,

The evil one stood up like a hunchback

  And was ready to crackle his whip;

Impatiently pacing, back and forth,

  He was like a lion that was ready to devour,

But when he saw the handsome Holy One,

  His attitude really turned sour;

With a slobbering spit of hot yellow sulphur,

  The evil one gave his sign,

And the pirate demons loaded their weapons

  While drinking some stale wart-hog wine;

The great Battle for Philovanitas’ Soul

  Was almost ready to commence,

And for the angelic crowd in the clouds,

  There was certainly growing suspense.

The Father most kind and gentle humbly

  Sent down the sweet Spirit of love,

Carrying a sword from the celestial heights,

  The Spirit was shaped like a dove;

He shot down from Heaven like a sunbeam

  Through a sky that was stunningly blue,

And He delivered the sword to Jesus,

  The Lord who makes all things new;

With a hilt of gold and a blade of steel

  The sword was razor-sharp,

And when Christ the Courageous swung it round,

  It sounded like a melodious harp;

Swinging the Sword of the Spirit was

  Something for which Jesus had a knack,

So He turned around, got in the ready position,

  And waited for the enemy to attack.

With that the devil’s hateful, hellish heart

  Burned like Halley’s Comet,

So he gave the signal to attack

  And sulphurous lava he began to vomit;

The demon archers with cryptic crossbows

  Shot electric arrows into the air,

The arrows buzzed like a swarm of sparkling

  Bees as they targeted Philovanitas’ hair;

But Jesus exhibited tremendous athleticism

  And certainly He frustrated His foe,

With His sword He deflected the electroarrows

  And they fizzed into the sea below;

The devil saw that the arrows were useless

  And it was time to turn to flaming missiles,

These are the kind that blaze through the air

  With terrifying and eerie whistles.

Jesus then changed His grip on the holy sword

  As if He would stab Death in the heart,

Then He flung the sword like a spiraling spear

  And it gave the devil a start;

When the sword struck the sea, there was a

  Blinding flash and a deafening sonic boom,

For the evil one and his pirate demons

  This could certainly only spell doom;

A supersonic shock wave swiftly fanned out

  Like Saturn’s colorful rings,

It explosively ripped through the devil’s galleons

  By the power of the King of kings;

The devil and his pirate demons were blown right back

  Into their dark, infernal pit,

And because of where they were painfully injured,

  They found it very hard to sit.

Jesus saw that the splintered wood from the

  Galleons was strewn all over the sea,

Troublesome temptation had been driven out

  And Philovanitas was finally free;

Jesus turned around and saw her trembling

  Because she had such a terrible fright,

So He took His bride into His arms

  And then embraced her very, very tight;

Jesus said, “Henceforth you shall be ‘Philothea’

  For now you love God above all,

I shall always love you as a treasure

  And be with you whenever you call”;

Then He tenderly kissed her cheek

  And she felt the softness of His bearded curls,

Never had Philothea felt so special,

  Even more precious than the rarest of pearls.

He pierced her soul with truest love,

  And her heart brimmed with Heavenly light,

Thanks to Christ the Courageous,

  Philothea’s spiritual eyes regained their sight;

With a peaceful smile on His face,

  The Lord wiped away her happy tears,

Her heart was so full of contentment

  And banished were all her fears;

She learned that freedom’s not freedom

  Without love and responsibility,

And avoiding the near occasion of sin

  Involves a lot of spiritual agility;

In the brisk balmy breeze, Jesus’

  Flowing hair so very gently swirled,

He said, “Behold I am with you always,

  Even unto the end of the world.”

TO ST. CLARE OF ASSISI

Your exquisite bright blue eyes

   are soft and serene,

 Beholding the remarkable

   richness of God’s creation;

Your honey hair cascades

   over your shoulders like a

Wonderful waterfall of God’s

   ineffable, indelible love;

Yet you choose to be a

   princess of holy poverty,

And your only wish is to

   sweetly serve in simplicity;

You are a faithful friend to

   the good Saint Francis,

As you both sacrificially surrender

   to Jesus the Just;

You are a merciful mother

   to the nuns of San Damiano,

As you guide them in purity

   and prudence and peace;

You are a beauteous bride

   to Christ the Courageous,

And your soul is bedecked with

   the precious pearls of virtue;

As you fervently follow in the

   footsteps of Our Loving Lord,

May we too live on in

   the laudable light of Christ.

MERRI AND THE SWEET SURRENDER

Everyone runs here and there calling for Merri,

They all need her help for their work at the dairy,

With so many interruptions, she has no time to tarry.

But Merri’s sincere surrender is gentle and sweet,

She turns her life over to Jesus and doesn’t miss a beat,

Living in the present moment, she washes the Lord’s feet.

THE MISSION OF CHARLIE CANDLESTICK

Charlie’s childhood dream

   was about to come true

As he bravely awaited

   his blast-off into space,

But at T minus 31 seconds,

   things started to turn tense

When the countdown

   suddenly stopped;

Fortunately, after many anxious

   hours, all systems were go,

And the rocket boosters

   powerfully ignited,

The stately spacecraft

   lethargically lifted off,

As if it had been awakened

   from a somber slumber.

The spacecraft thunderously

   roared and rumbled upwards,

With red fiery flames

   dancing behind,

And black billows of

   smoke quickly clouded the

Launching pad like a dark,

   gaseous galactic nebula;

Charlie shook in his seat

   as if he were riding on a

Rough road in a rickety,

   rollicking stagecoach,

And in two minutes of breathtaking

   acceleration, he was

Traveling over three

   thousand miles per hour.

He was now thirty miles up

   and halfway to space,

When the rocket boosters

   abruptly disengaged,

The two of them toppled

   and fell downward towards

The bright blue ocean like

   giant worn-out pencils;

Still accelerating, the

   orbiter speared upwards

At the scintillating speed

   of one mile per second,

Charlie’s orbiter now flew

   like lightning, and in a

Mere thirty seconds

   he was soaring in space.

Charlie was then surrounded

   by stars in the black sea

Of space, and he felt

   wondrously weightless,

Now gently gliding around

   Earth, he was fascinated

As he watched the sensational

   brilliance of the sun;

There was an orbital sunrise,

   and the placid rays of

Light gradually approached

   as if in slow motion,

Below, he saw the beautiful

   blissful blue globe and

Was awed by its peacefulness

   and by its grandeur.

Interestingly enough,

   Charlie’s spiritual life

Has followed a very

   similar flight path,

Years ago, his petitions

   and other prayers seemed

To vanish into the vast void

   of a bleak black hole;

This was because his pitiful

   prayers were mumbled

Meaninglessly in the last

   few minutes of the day,

His rockets had little spiritual

   fuel for a journey to Heaven,

So his life’s countdown

   suddenly stopped.

Without enough spiritual fuel,

   Charlie knew that he

Risked crashing and burning

   in the fearful fires of hell,

An open-throated grave

   that savagely swallows

Sinners and belches forth

   filthy fumes of smoky sulphur;

He knew he needed to

   double down on his prayer

 Life to give greater thrust

   to his mission,

So he went to mass more,

   and delighted in the

Divine Office a little at a time

   throughout each day.

Because of Charlie’s awakening,

   he made the decision

To make persistent prayer

   the top priority of his life,

At first he didn’t notice a

   change, but with patience,

His spiritual life lifted off

   and safely reached orbit;

Soon his spirit was freed

   from the burdensome bonds

Of serious sin, and he felt

   wondrously weightless,

He gracefully glided towards

   the flaming monstrance

Of the Son, and His

   rays of Divine Mercy.

From the happy heights

   of the heavens, his

Panoramic perspective

   really changed,

Life appeared so much

   simpler through the

Detachment of prayer in front

   of the Blessed Sacrament;

The petty possessions,

   the worries of the world,

The fettering fears,

   the doomsday deadlines:

They were all so surprisingly

   insignificant compared

To a fabulous future

   filled with perfect peace.

PRISONERS

We are imprisoned by 

multitudinous false gods:

mesmerized by materialism,

hypnotized by hedonism;

God is trying to get our attention,

but what will awaken us from

our slothful spiritual slumber?

the dread of a worldwide depression?

the horror of a nuclear holocaust?

the fear of a global pandemic?

death?

MACSCROOGE AND THE MAELSTROM OF DIAMONDS

MacScrooge steered his sailing ship

  Towards the swirling maelstrom of mystery,

He heard that it held one of the most

  Tantalizing treasures in all of human history;

Old sailors say millions of sparkling

  Diamonds are twirling round and round,

Spinning like a glittering galaxy,

  The maelstrom makes a murmuring sound;

When he entered the Forbidden Sea,

  His ultimate goal was near,

He had heard that the vortex was deadly,

  And there was certainly reason to fear;

But more than anything else he wanted

  To own an envious pile of wealth,

Perhaps if he kept a safe distance,

  Then he might succeed through stealth.

From afar the magical whirlpool

  Shone with shimmering, glimmering light,

It was completely blanketed with diamonds

  Floating so very bright;

MacScrooge eased his ship carefully

  Into the whirlpool’s serpentine tail,

The waters seemed so peaceful

  That perhaps his mission wouldn’t fail;

As the waters crept along sleepily,

  Many gems by MacScrooge were collected,

With a heavy net he snatched them up,

  And there were many more than he expected;

His insatiable appetite for riches

  Grew through his laborious task,

MacScrooge’s beard dripped with sweat,

  So he took a drink out of his flask.

MacScrooge became so obsessed with diamonds

  That of surroundings he lost all sense,

But when his ship suddenly surged forward,

  He abruptly became very tense;

He noticed that the ship’s speed had

  Augmented in a very disturbing way,

The sea rapidly became rather turbulent,

  And it was turning into an ominous day;

Black clouds swiftly eclipsed the sun,

  And extinguished nearly all of its light,

MacScrooge’s heart sank like an anchor,

  And he trembled with terror and fright;

An icy, wicked wind began to blow,

  And he saw the waters violently churn,

Sadly, MacScrooge knew it was too late --

  He was beyond the point of no return.

From the center of the whirlpool

  There was an explosive and thunderous blast,

MacScrooge knew that something dangerous

  Was approaching very, very fast;

Then the vortex vomited sulphurous lava

  That sprayed high into the skies,

And molten rock fell like blazing meteors,

  A dreadful sight for his eyes;

The flaming boulders struck the sea

  And every diamond was ignited,

When MacScrooge saw the maelstrom on fire,

  He had never been less delighted;

Faster and faster the murderous maelstrom spun,

  Like a whirling wheel of fire,

And all of these events were triggered

  By MacScrooge’s inordinate desire.

MacScrooge had arrived at the mouth

  Of the vortex, and clearly this was not good,

While his ship was burning in ferocious

  Flames that hungrily ate its wood;

A vile, horrid, foul stench arose from

  Deep within the cavernous abyss,

This was far, far different from his dream,

  Of power and worldly bliss;

His ship plunged down into the funnel,

  In a death spiral leading towards hell,

And clutching the helm tightly,

  MacScrooge cursed and swore as he fell;

Then volcanic lightning blasted him

  And cooked the flesh off of his head,

The ship disappeared into the void below

  And, tragically, MacScrooge was dead.

When Lady MacScrooge heard the shocking news,

  Terror gripped her heart,

Like MacScrooge she lusted for power,

  But now she wished to make a fresh start;

She would try to avoid all temptations

  That invited her to hoard,

Instead she would strive for love and peace

  Just like our Blessed Lord;

MacScrooge did only what he wanted,

  And that’s how he rolled the dice,

He avoided not the near occasion of sin,

  And that’s when he paid the price;

Since MacScrooge gambled with temptation,

  In the end he only got hurt,

It would have been better for him,

  If he had remained sober, vigilant, and alert.

INFERNO ISLAND

Act III  

O Dark One!

So far your plan

has worked

like a charm,

and your control of

the Sea of Shadows

has brought us

our victim,

Gonzalo --

so far

he has suspected

nothing.

When he appeared

at the mouth of

the cavern,

with her alert eyes

Tristina caught sight of him,

and drew our attention

to him.

The music ceased,

and I invited him

to descend the steps,

down, down, down,

until he reached the

cavern floor.

I crossed the lava moat

with the royal barge,

and a few other maidens.

He bowed his head

and introduced himself,

and, as the queen, I regally

and elegantly did the same.

He was taken aback

by my stunning beauty

and also my

enticing charm.

There is no question

that I am the

most radiant and the

most voluptuous

among us,

and Gonzalo could not

keep his eyes

off of me.

So I opportunely

took one of his

arms and

wrapped it,

snugly and

sensually,

around my slender

and shapely waist.

But I did so

in such a way that

my warm, perfumed

hair was brushing against his

flushed cheek.

Then I surprised him --

so insidious that I am --

and suddenly I held him

tight in my invincible arms and

kissed him,

long and hard,

with my spiced lips,

and we clung together,

with his heart pounding violently

with the strongest palpitations

against my curvaceous and

seductive body.

I captivated him

with my goddess-like eyes --

my green eye gazed intently

into his defenseless

brown eyes,

while I began to

subtly and stealthily

secrete red lava into my

bewitching black eye.

Ever so slowly,

and ever so gradually,

the hot red lava

hypnotically oozed and

blended together and

my left eye became a

magnetic, mesmerizing

tornado of swiftly swirling

black and red.

Gonzalo appeared

quite smitten,

but after the incident

involving Cassano,

I was not going to

leave anything to

chance this time.

So with full

flirtatious force,

I playfully and

smilingly led him

across the moat

and through the fateful forest

of tropical fruit trees,

slowly sauntering towards the

black altar of pleasure.

In the meantime,

the other magic maidens

giggled and whispered

among each other,

with great anticipation.

Then the two of us

sat down under the trees,

while the rest of the

magic maidens watched

me spin a tangled web

for my victim.

They observed from a

safe enough distance

in order to give us

sufficient privacy --

to avoid interference

of any kind --

so through the bushes

and around trees

they all sat there,

dumbfounded,

at my ability to

coquettishly tease Gonzalo

and lasciviously lure him

into the jaws of

my trap.

His heart,

like a budding flower

in winter,

opened too soon,

too rashly --

as is Gonzalo’s nature --

and the frost of

foul play

began to freeze

his sense of

reason.

He squinted his eyes,

scrunched his mouth

into a wry smile,

and said,

“I intercepted a

letter from

a man I despise,

and in it he spoke

of this island

as if he were a

stupid, superstitious fool --

one who is spooked

and afraid of

his own shadow.”

I winced,

ever so slightly,

but immediately

regained my composure

before he could notice

anything at all --

he was busy looking

around and marveling

at the beauty of the

fruit trees.

Then I saw

my chance and

wasted no time

in strategically

making my move.

I quickly replied,

“As you can clearly see,

Inferno Island is a

paradise of pleasures,

so just relax

and let go --

the only thing

that matters here is

to feel!”

Gonzalo smiled

a very broad smile,

and, as he chuckled,

his glance danced

back and forth,

from my swirling eye

to my stationary one.

On the soft grass,

I slowly reclined into

an arousing supine position

and smiled back at him.

I looked intently

into his eyes again

and the swirling eye

spun around even faster

with excitement.

Then I asked him,

“Would you like

some fruit?”

All of the other

magic maidens

held their breath and

awaited his response.

His face fell,

as if he had suddenly

pricked himself with

a sharp blade --

he was overcome by

a profound fear,

and he stumbled

terribly over his

words as he

tried to come up with

an excuse.

But with an alluring,

irresistible voice

I persisted

and asked him,

“Surely you’re not afraid --

are you, Gonzalo?

“Why, my love,

it’s impossible

that a handsome, brave,

and passionate man

like you

would be afraid

of anything!”

With that,

my wanton body

slithered stealthily over

that of his own,

and then he found his face

immersed in the

serpentine ringlets

of my clustered curls

and wild, wicked whirl

of my cascading dark hair.

My perfumed breath

was indescribably delicious,

and his self-control

was noticeably weakening --

he appeared emotionally chained

by the poison pride that

strongly surged within him.

I looked at the

multicolored fruit

in the tree above us,

then I stood up and chose

a couple of them that dangled,

as if hanging

by a noose,

over his head.

The two that I picked were

of a bright, fiery red,

very round, and

very, very ripe.

I placed them in his hands,

its sticky juice bleeding

in profusion over

his quivering fingers.

Again, there was a hush

among the maidens,

and the whole island

seemed to be still.

Breathing faster,

he looked at the fruit

in his hands --

I suspect that Cassano

must have said something

about the danger of

the fruit on this island,

because Gonzalo

turned very pale.

He was frozen

with uncertainty

for a moment,

but he was no match

for me.                                            

I persuasively urged him,

“Here… take this, Gonzalo...

eat some of it…

you must be hungry.”

Then I drew near

to his left ear and

whispered,

even more softly,

“This luscious fruit

will help you relax,

and it will make our

time together

even more memorable.”

Suddenly,

he made his

decision.

He bit into the fruit,

with reckless abandon,

and I could see that

its fragrant flesh was

strikingly flavorful.

Then he bit into it

again,

and again,

and yet again,

as if eating it faster

might somehow

protect him.

He was giddy with delight

and soon said that it felt as if

his body had been placed in a

warm pool of melting sugar,

and he said he was experiencing

very intense pleasure. 

I stood up and then

pulled him to his feet,

but he appeared

just a bit dizzy --

as I looked into his eyes,

I could see the potion

already taking effect:

his left eye was beginning

to swirl black and red,

and his right eye was

turning sea green.

The maidens watched with a

feeling of euphoria,

because they knew now

what was coming.

I led him towards

the flaming black altar

and said,

“My dear Gonzalo,

now all your dreams

will come true --

let us go together

into the fires of pleasure

on the black altar,

and there we will both

experience pleasures

more intense than

you could have ever

believed in your

wildest imagination!”

He stepped up onto

the black altar of pleasure

and then reclined on it --

as the flashing flames

surrounded his body

and enveloped it,

he was overcome by

an ecstasy that completely

overwhelmed him.

Act IV

As he rested on the dark black altar,

  Gonzalo’s body tingled with restless delight,

Here on the flaming altar of pleasure,

  His ecstasy peaked at an all-time height;

But this dream darkened into a nightmare

  That for him meant certain doom,

It started with the war drums’ thunder --

  Boom baba-boom baba-boom!

The altar flames flared exceedingly high,

  Pulsating to the pounding drumbeat,

Pain exploded through poor Gonzalo

  With each and every heartbeat;

His bones were blasted by ongoing bursts

  Of scorching, unquenchable fire,

There was no question at all in his mind

  That his situation was really quite dire.

He screamed and wailed in utter agony,

  Writhing horribly on the altar of black,

The magic maidens happily looked on,

  Assembling quickly into a large pack;

They screeched with fiendish laughter,

  As if he were an insect in a trap,

Queen Thaliela had been totally victorious,

  And so, they all started to clap.

He tried to escape with all his might,

  But he was locked inside of the flames,

He was imprisoned on the black altar,

  Yet for the maidens it was fun and games;

But then something very peculiar occurred,

  When his stomach felt strangely sour,

Gonzalo vomited black-and-red blood,

  At the passing of each excruciating hour.

For sixty-six endless hours he suffered,

  Painfully squirming all around,

Then he collapsed from sheer exhaustion,

  Without making a single sound;

The cavern was filled with a vile stench,

  And a foul grey fog filled the air,

Gonzalo was nearing his inevitable death,

  But the magic maidens didn’t care.

Surrounding the burning black altar,

  There was a ring of fiery spears,

Thaliela grimly grabbed the closest one,

  And then trebled were all his fears;

With her wild left eye spinning madly,

  She raised the spear over her head,

Slamming it down, she skewered his skull,

  And Gonzalo appeared as good as dead.

The spear pierced through both of his ears,

  And flashing fire flared from each eye,

Blood then gushed out of both of his ears,

  Yet his tortured body just couldn’t die;

Gonzalo screamed with indescribable pain,

  He thought his poor head might explode,

His nightmare got worse as he vomited again,

  And blistering lava from his mouth flowed.

Then the fog in the cavern rapidly blackened

  Into an ominous broken ring of dark smoke,

The sulphurous smell was quite stifling,

  And Gonzalo was beginning to choke;

Then a booming bass voice so shook the cave

  That even the magic maidens were afraid,

The Dark One’s voice was unmistakable,

  And came from the mist like a grenade.

Act V

I spit at thee,

Gonzalo,

for you are a

stupid fool!

And now you will

pay the last penny for

your shortsighted selfishness.

You are an unworthy

citizen from the land

of the hated one --

I spit at your king!

You can look forward to

an eternity of suffering --

a living death --

within the frightful flames

of this black altar,

where your unbearable agony

will only increase with the passing

of each nightmarish hour,

for the remainder of

your miserable life.