The Adoration of Cyanna

Oh, Cyanna, let me worship thee!
Thou canst in name a goddess be,
No matter that I know thee mortal,
And bound, as I am, for the portal.
Come, Cyanna, let me thee adore
As no goddess hath been loved before.

Not the madwomen who for Bacchus ran,
Not the women at Eleusis can
Boast that they so danced among their trees-
Nay, not in Cybele's ecstasies!
Come, my lady, and I will adore
Thee as no goddess hath been before.

I will go every day to chase down
A hind of white and a buck of brown,
And a pair of swans in feathers white
As desert sunshine or morning light.
Come, my lady, let me thee adore
As no goddess hath been loved before.

I will use a silver, bone-handled knife
On thine altar to spill the bloody life.
I will bring flowers, and incense too,
And cloth of rich and smoky hue.
Come, Cyanna, and I will adore
Thee as no goddess hath been before.

I will bring butterflies, and will bring jade,
Such offerings as in Mayan lands made
To a serpent with feathers every shade.
I will bring butterflies, and will bring jade.
Come, Cyanna, let me thee adore
As no goddess hath been loved before.

Thy temple will be of white white stone,
And all its beauties for thee alone,
All the graceful columns and curving stairs,
All the attar of roses and perfumed airs.
Come, my lady, and I will adore
Thee as no goddess hath been before.

In the courtyard will wander milk-white deer,
Unafraid of the blood spilled here,
For they will know their blood for a great cause
Goes- to honor thee, greater than ever was.
Come, my lady, let me thee adore
As no goddess hath been loved before.

To thee with candles, with smoke and with fire,
Will I chant an endless song of desire,
Of love, of praise, in delirium the while,
At the thought thou might grantest me a smile.
Come, Cyanna, and I will adore
Thee as no goddess hath been before.