Sappho Indiscreet

  
 
Opposites surely attract. it must be a whim of nature, to  
make furious poetry. like fire & water, consuming each other  
violently. in the resulting steam, we are made to understand,  
there was a great love here.  
 
Arrielle chose to pursue a literary degree at a women’s university,  
so that her classes would not be disrupted by the sexual glances  
of male students, which stimulated her, although she denied it.  
 
her poems were intrinsically lavish, luxuriating deeply in metaphor,  
lyrical beyond description, & absurdly incomprehensible. she wrote of  
places that existed only in her unique vision, but she did not name them,  
because they were sine nomine. upon reading her poems, her friends  
could only respond: ‘this is beautiful! but I have no idea what it’s about.’  
 
Jodie’s poems were the antithesis of Arrielle’s. they were raw & grossly  
littered with coarse language. the slums of all societies were stolen &  
abridged into the rogue slum of her desolate imagining. she was  
virulent when explaining that the lexicon of her poetry was corrupt  
because ‘the whole (insert expletive) world is corrupt!’  
 
we would expect that two such dissimilar composers would repel each  
other. quite the opposite, as nature schemed in its sinister way.  
 
Jodie, being an aggressive lesbian, made the first move, inviting Arrielle  
to her dorm room on the pretense of tutoring. after tedious conversation,  
she segued into the poetry of Sappho, quoting her with a passionate air.  
‘gracious your form & your eyes as honey.’ ‘you came & I was crazy for you!’  
‘go, & be happy, but remember whom you leave shackled by love.’  
 
this was intended to entice Arrielle, & she was enticed, having not been with  
a lover (male, never female) for several months. Jodie’s hands were gentle  
but firm on Arrielle’s arms; Jodie’s breathe, sensual on her warming cheeks.  
 
the kiss of a girl’s tongue is light & beckoning, not demanding like a man’s.  
Arrielle swooned in the lesbian embrace, & hardly noticed her clothes being  
removed. & oh!, the fire, the fire, that aroused Arrielle as her girl lover sucked  
like a neon blue gourami upon her nipples!  
 
she contained herself not at all as Jodie’s knowing lips captured a thrilling  
sensation, tracing a searing path down her belly. at the juncture of her hips,  
Jodie’s pink serpent invaded Arrielle’s forbidden grotto, conquering with  
flowing liquid delight her Sapphic virginity. As Arrielle attained the very  
zenith of her corruption, she screamed! she knew there was no heat of  
the sun, no thunder in the sky, to match her own…  
 
and so, in their alchemical transcendence, Arrielle & Jodie became  
fire & water. time, & the rising steam of consumption, would testify:  
 
there was a great love here.  
 
 
(Art: Eugene Buzuk)