Poems by Themis

Cities of Night

Last night we strayed into the lands of Night,

Cities of death, where in the howling street

Men walk wolf-eyed, dim evil-eyed, and cheat

The mind to images of ghastly sight.

Wildly they grope for power, and bite and fight,

And kill the heart with passion's poisoned sweet,

Burn black the lips with falsehood and deceit,

Pollute and desecrate the soul's delight.

The shapes of all things cruel, dark, impure,

Are gathered there in horrid slums of shame,

And over all that filth, Night's veiling soot;

Disdain, distress, despair fill every core

Of being; wondering we asked, "Who is to blame,

Whence fall the seeds that yield such hellish fruit?'

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