Lilith gives her ticket to the cashier at the gate
He hands her back some headphones and a booklet with a map.
She follows all the other kids, and anxiously, she waits
And chooses “Kings and Castles” from the new museum app.

The tour begins, the students move, the apprehension starts…
Some teachers and some chaperones, positioned at the front.
A fixed anticipation now is tugging at her heart…
Feelings stirring; triggers from some old, familiar haunt.

They move in single file as history bears the weight of years…
Into rooms of artifacts, with works of art, and such.
While listening to a British accent woman in her ears…
Describing boring details, like she doesn’t care too much.

Wandering in tangent now, a sense of Déjà vu…
She seems to know which way to go before the woman talks.
The paintings are familiar in a sentient sort of way…
Uneasy now, she treads the past with every step she walks.

Lilith grows impatient while the line moves up the stairs…
Her mind is racing backwards, so familiar, yet unknown.
Once again, she feels as if she always has been here…
Then all at once, the scene has changed, she finds herself alone.

And now she stands before a hallway mirror hung in space,
The person looking back is lacking. Awkward. Ugly. Strange
A glitch in her appearance; never happy, out of place…
A sense of not belonging, forced to always rearrange.

A darkness in her soul that’s always wanted to be free…
Wishes born of fantasies, and time that’s not her own.
Looking for a savior who may change her destiny…
A space in time to finally live a life she’s never known.

Then, turning sharply round, she sees her shadow disappear…
The sound of music rising, flickering prisms on the walls.
Laughter melts to voices bleeding, through the hallway door…
Curious, she follows, towards the mystery that calls.

She walks up to the entrance, and it opens to a scene…
Something from a movie, so incredibly expressed.
A mystic celebration, not a measure of a dream…
She steps into a great hall full of masqueraded guests.

Lilith makes her way across a festive ballroom floor…
She drops her map and headphones, with a feeling she belongs.
A thousand eyes upon her, sensing that she is adored…
Enraptured by the merriment, captured by a song.

The room is draped in colors, and the atmosphere’s unbound.
The scent of burning candles and fresh flowers fills the air.
Costumed men and women dancing in the center-round…
They revel short of madness in this grand medieval fair.

She feels a sense of purpose as she moves across the space…
Focused on a painting hung upon the eastern wall.
A set of golden stairs connects the image to the floor…
With party guests descending, entering the festive hall.

Now, center of the painting, sitting on a snakeskin throne…
There seems to be a reigning king attended by his court.
Lilith sees the king as someone she has always known…
He feels her presence, stands, and leaves aside his queen consort.

Lilith is transfixed and gazes deep into his eyes…
The king continues watching and descends the golden stairs.
He steps into the hall, and then he takes her by the hand…
Slowly runs his fingers across her lips and auburn hair.

The revelers bow to the king, he sweeps her in his arms…
With dark intent, he glides her to the center of the floor.
Lilith is excited, and inside, she comes alive…
A power stirs within that she has never felt before.

They dance as one together, as her fantasies unfold…
Falls with all her soul into the vacuum of his eyes,
And in an instant, kisses him, her heart wants to explode…
Inhibitions fade, she slides her hand between his thighs.

The revelers reach out as one, removing all her clothes…
Revealing Lilith naked, standing on the center floor.
The music pulses louder as they do the same to him…
They melt together, making love, the people scream for more.

In another part of the museum, the tour comes to an end…
The teachers and chaperones, count the students’ heads.
And, finding Lilith missing, desperately, the search begins
Overcome with worry…an impending sense of dread.

Meanwhile, in the great hall, Lilith screams in ecstasy…
The party room has now become a fairground in a field.
She likes the eyes upon her and the rush of power it brings…
That perfect sense of pleasure and the passion it reveals.

The revelers bow down to her, worshipping their goddess…
Everything is twisted; fate has manifested moments.
She stands beside an ancient tree inside a fertile forest…
Her lover king has shapeshifted into a magic serpent.

The searching has intensified with Lilith clearly missing…
Security retraces every move in retrospect.
While Lilith is enchanted by the king’s erotic hissing…
He drapes around her body, whispering licks upon her neck.

Finally, the searchers enter into the great hall…
Finding Lilith’s headphones, clothes, and phone.
But only silence answers, as in vain, her name, they call…
The space is clearly empty; there’s no king upon his throne.

Then, scanning through the paintings,
One stands out amongst them all…
A new addition to the room called “Lilith and the Snake.”
There’s something in her eyes, reveals the essence of her fall…
Fate provided steps that she was always meant to take.

For who we are will be revealed once we shed our skin…
There are no secrets to conceal; reality is what we feel.
Seems destiny has called her home, to where she’s always been…
For no matter how we try, from ourselves, we cannot hide.

TM DiSarro
©2023 TM DiSarro / MindScapes Publishing