Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, NEW ORLEANS HARLOT, by FRANCES LYKSETT


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

NEW ORLEANS HARLOT, by                    
First Line: Envy and avarice spoke from her greedy face
Last Line: Of all her coquetries, and tawdry wiles.
Subject(s): New Orleans; Prostitution; Sonnet (as Literary Form); Harlots; Whores; Brothels


Envy and avarice spoke from her greedy face,
As our eyes met, and I felt stripped and bare,
As though her predatory hands could tear
Away your shielding love, within the space
Of glances meeting. Did she like the chase?
Another Diane, though not so fleet and fair?
Or was she hunted prey, her only care
A refuge from the grim and hopeless race?

In her sad eyes I read the sum of all
I held -- in bonds more dear than decadent flesh --
Beyond the need of any female guiles.
I hoped she could not see in mine how small
Her spirit seemed, how tangled in the mesh
Of all her coquetries, and tawdry wiles.





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