The Oldest Profession

The whore dines
On the suppleness
Of the velvet rod
A ruby mouth to swallow pearls

She is white of face
And crimson of cheek
A warren of hollows
To be drained and filled

She is nothing to anyone
And everything to one
The same in the dark
As in the light

She glories in her sin
Because she knows
There is no greater honor
Than the pleasure of man

And the woman who
Perfects her craft
Costs him nothing but
His sated time.

She owns the secret of giving.

-Zoe Richardson