The ancient seductress

The ancient seductress
still flaunts her wares
and beckons sailors
caught unawares
from places far and wide
over time and tide...
blind to the widening hole
in her soul,
they arrive, bewitched...
she gives and they take
insatiable, they linger...
her pride eclipses her frailty
and none bother to question
her sanity or her sanctity
and they get accustomed
to her restless nights
and her morning prayers.....
her seasons and her reasons
her secrets and her sacrifices...
and night after day
she smoothens her wrinkles
and heals her scars
all for them, who do not know
about the promise of perdition...
but by the shimmering sea,
her moondance, to songs
old and new, help her seduce
even destiny with her lust
and as she smothers him
in her bosom, she hopes
she will have her way, again

(Written for a poetry reading event held for Madras week 2008 with the theme 'cities and lust'.)