"By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient"
—Hebrews 11:31 NIV
Let me serve thee a proper caveat. This, a story of a reclaimed courtesan. No obscenities herein but the brutal realities of a prostitute are present. Tread with eyes wide open and care. Thou art warned.
A Longing Fulfilled
-
"Hope deferred makes the heart sick,
but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life."
—Proverbs 13:12 NIV
She discloses them taut
Lower limbs
For wealth she barely had
For fraudulent rituals of love
For deterioration
- Chartered Libertine -
No woman desires degradation
Nor deserve such
Yet she chants amen to whoredom
For wealth she barely had
(pauperism)
For fraudulent rituals of love
(pretentious intimacy)
For deterioration
(rancorous consequence)
Should a woman of dry options be blamed?
Mind 'twas you Jericho
That has drawn her unto your wall
A chance you withheld from her
To rise from the pit
A chance Jericho, a chance!
To shut those brazen limbs
Quivering
For corruption
- Venality -
Kohl accentuated eyes
Implore upon Orion's belt,
Threatens to drain...
"How long?"
Oh but those stars of Orion toil for nothing m'lady!
Except
Be hidden, betray themselves, and scintillate
...They hold no answer for you
Come, speak m'lady
What answers do you hold, for us?
"My name... is Rahab,
A courtesan at your service.
Just Rahab... a rag doll... for r e n t."
(Arag doll for rent?)
Derisive self-mockery
Betrayed
By those tears coercing to bleed...
Oh, but the woman is a sorceress!
In a blink
She freezes her tears
Capping those opaque hazels
Its life
Secluded 'neath wintry solace...
She steels her soul
For another charade
- Pivot -
Fingertips
That grazed countless dorsums
(For ribald performance)
And palms
That amassed silver and gold
(From satisfied wights)
Inclines to probe for congenial spots—
A place to plant her venom
Whenceher prey will fall
Lost in a routine
Of dipsandtwistsandturns
Around and around
'Tiltheworldmelttogether—
An odious dance of decadence
(The frail sisterhood's craft)
But those incarnadine hands
DISMISSED
By hands familiar
But never felt—
Her seduction feat, aborted
"Enough."
Calm supremacy in his tone.
On her shoulders
He place his hands—
A touch exuding warmth,
Bidding the life
She tucked under ice
"Your fa(it)h
Is hard enough to res(is)t
My faithful one."
In a daze
Overwhelmed
Almost unraveled
But, a woman of such air will breach--
watch...
It goes, slipping off her lips,
Meaning not retain the query within...
"Who a(r)e yo(u)
To ad(d)ress me
Your faithful one?"
He draws herby the window
To observe the hills beyond
Bathing in Diana's light
Traversed
By a pair of silhouettes on steeds
"I am HE who parted the Egyptian waters,
One, I learned, you secretly revere."
Awed.
"Those riders are my men.
They have come to claim what is theirs
Judgment
Will fall upon Jericho."
Blenched.
"Rahab...
Come live with my people."
Ensnared by confused emotions.
"He-discerns-much" dance within her intellect
Forcing her
Forcing her to shut her eyes
Toconceal those green-tinged browns
And bringdown her canvas--
Thecanvas of her aspirations
A canvas alive with notions of hereafter,
Aye,within that canvas she emerges
As a woman garbed in worth
"Rahab?"
A smile
A curtsy...
She assents
(Hope clinging tightly in her heart
Puctuating every heartbeat)
- Declaration -
Those now hopeful hazels wake
Upon the cerulean sky
Animated
By a gossamer veil rolling by
Rolling madly against the wind
Roll it goes
Farther on
On and on—
The silken fabric,
As scarlet as her sins
Woven for harlotry
Though it melts the soul to shame
She dared not shove back
Back to its tributaries
The saline dews welling up
Her heart singing a paean
Solely
For welkin and terra's lord
Her hands
Now a cornucopia of glinting riches
(Riches she amassed for believing
Riches she needn't spread her legs for
Riches, all of echt substance: hope, respect, trust)
Lifts up to the halcyon skies and warbles:
"A woman's worth
God sees
Past d(e)te(r)io(r)ation."
A declaration mouthed
By a courtesan reclaimed
Atop Jericho's remains
-
"A longing fulfilled is sweet to the soul,"
—Proverbs 13:19 NIV