Cordelia
I know exactly
what the look in his eyes was
when you came back from
the capital
with a head in a bag.
It’s the look of a man
who has chosen
to love a woman
who has people
decapitated.
The look of a man
who has been
afraid that you are lost
and knows that there
is no price
he wouldn’t pay
to have you returned to him.
What is
a small amount
of assassination
between lovers and friends
after spending hours
and days
with the fear
of being
dispossessed?
Maybe he is
also proud
of loving a
dangerous woman
maybe that is what it means
when his eyes light
and his lips
curl up
and you know
that you are in step.
Inspired by Barrayar, by Lois McMaster Bujold.
Painting of La Scapigliata may have been used as a study for Saint John the Baptist.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Scapigliata#/media/File:Leonardo_da_vinci_-_La_scapigliata.jpg
