Skandalon: Poems

Victims of the Wedding 8: Sense of Direction

31 Vic tims of the Wedding 8 Sense of Direction The angel and the daemon sat beside the bed where the man and woman were making love. They were interested in human lovemaking, always— connoisseurs, one might say, though they had no direct experience of it— and found it interesting to compare notes on the process. Do you think, the angel said, that what they’re doing there is really worth all the effort they put into it? It seems to be a lot of work. I take them at their word, the daemon said, and in every word they speak, even when they are not speaking, they affirm the worth of it. But look, the angel said, he pierces her. How can that be a pleasant thing? It’s a mystery, the daemon said, but she pierces him too. The mystery resides in that also. But can it be a pleasure to be licked like that? He’s licking her nipples. I do not see the joy in that. And soon, said the daemon, her tongue will be in his ear. Our understanding of their ecstasy is quite beside the point. Just accept that. You seem to be implying, the angel went on, that there is a reciprocity in it? Otherwise, the daemon told him, they would both be terribly lonely right now. The woman grasped the man’s hair and pulled his head to her mouth just as he pressed deep inside her; she put her tongue in his ear and he moaned, but she whispered to him, Are those two still watching us? He glanced over out of the corner of his eye, where the two supernatural gargoyles sat on three-legged stools beside the bed. They are, he said. And does it excite you to have them watch us? 32 If it didn’t, she said, feeling her turbulence beginning, they would both be terribly lonely right now. ...