Atthis Abandons Sappho - a poem by Chris Zachariou

Portrait of Sappho

I'll always love you Sappho,
my love of yesteryear.

A graceless child you thought me
but you took my hand and loved me
with a kind of love that burned.

Each night, you took

a little more of me
and each night, I gave you

more without thinking.

You brushed my hair
you kissed my lips
you dressed me in lace and silk
then took me to your bed.

Like a butterfly, I fluttered.
I shivered when you touched me

and gasped for air,
I could not breathe and begged
for your mouth on my skin

I loved you Sappho
a love so joyous, a love without guilt.
I was drunk with your light.

Now another has come into my life.
A tender child of eighteen and in her love
I find my youth again.

I brush her hair
I kiss her lips
I dressed her in lace and silk
then take her to our bed.

She touches me and I die for her
I hold her and she cries for me
and everything is fresh and new.