The Flower of Aphrodite

There is a flower which on a high hill

Gleams like a star when seen from afar

Yet its medley of colors, deadly to lovers,

Seductively stands, to offer a thrill

Grand and glittering are its cursed petals

Turns love into lust, doves to dust

Quenching thirst in leaden pipes burst

An elegant manse of heavy metals

There is a power it holds over all men

Siren-like song, luring along,

Hitting all notes, splitting all throats

Souls now entranced in a sepulchral den

So make not that trip in spring to the bud

Many by winter, wither who do

Becoming feed for soil and seed

Flotsam of blossoms bespoiled in mud