A Garden Melodrama - Scene Five

Scene 5: The Bloody Field �"

Enter the Sibyl Mantis and Attendant.

 

SIBYL MANTIS

 

The noble bee has made brief summer’s pilgrimage

And bleeds among the thorns[1] twixt here and heaven.

 

MIKA:

 

But one of many tender hearts left in the bloody field.

 

SIBYL MANTIS:

 

See how the wroth clouds

Gather o’er the dusky hills;

They rumble in their outrage

And accuse the callous sun.

 

MIKA:

 

But hark! Fair wings approach,

And other wings are coming.

 

SIBYL MANTIS:

 

And so, she seeks the blessing he received

And takes his manly shoulder as a pillow.

 

MIKA:

 

The mark is given and the sign is made.

SIBYL MANTIS:

 

And now, the light spills o’er their noble forms

As if to hallow them, and thus, to hallow all

In this last unction, done in perfect grace.

 

Let us remove unto the Gardener’s Gate,

For I have seen enough of mortal passion.

 

MIKA:

 

I will fly before thee and tell all, for preparation

Must be made before their coming. (Exit Mika)

 

SIBYL MANTIS:

 

Love is the couplet

Written at first blush,

 

The lines that sanctify

A lover’s furtive glance -

 

The sudden understanding of a script,

The easy demonstration of a dance

 

It matters not what two are lying here

Among the ones who choose to love

As all who choose, choose love �"

No other cause but that.

 

Fade

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[1]  A reference to Shelley’s immortal line, “Oh, lift me as a wave, a leaf, a cloud! I fall upon the thorns of life! I bleed!”