Gomer's Poem

How love can turn to lust, and sweetness to gall.

A huge drop of dew clings to the leaf

Just above her nose.

It stretches down, heavily down

Bowing the stem beneath its weight.

Tension mounts, and then --

The leaf springs upward, shivering and dry.

There is a splash upon her cheek;

She wipes it away with a smile

And there lays down

 

The forest smells so green there,

Verdant and fecund.

A virgin in the wedding chamber

She trembles to discover what comes next.

Aching, and yet unsure

She closes her eyes with a sigh,

Stretches out her arms;

Her face is lifted open-mouthed

Poised to receive

 

Another dewdrop falls, silent

A lover’s gentle kiss

Placed lightly upon her lips.

She savors it with blissful satisfaction,

The coolness mixed with warmth

Tasting of pollen, earth, and rain;

Sweet with new discovery.

She professes her eternal devotion

And aches for more

 

Eyes open, hunting hungrily for dewdrops

Now melted by the sun

She breaks her vow, dissatisfied, impatient.

To other trees she runs, searching

That she might catch their dew upon her tongue

Quelling her lust, but never are they sweet

Tasting only of gall and bile

Wormwood and sour wine

All bitterness

 

Now many years have passed, and she,

Old, gray, hard, alone

Plods through the forest’s undergrowth.

Having drank her heart numb on sour love

Without tasting, heeding, seeing

Deeper she walks, farther she wanders,

Gleaning dew out of habit, she passes that first tree

Vaguely aware of what is lost to her:

Her true, sweet love

Author's Note

The name of this poem is derived from the Old Testament book of Hosea in the Bible. Hosea's wife was named Gomer, and she was unfaithful to him for the entirety of their marriage. Yet, in all her affairs and harlotry, Hosea never strayed.