Basiliké Pappa
with this ring
I will have you live in a castle, in a house by the sea, in a grand mansion – anywhere you wish. I will give you milk from laughing cows, honey from sacred bees, fruit from the trees of the Sun-god, fish and fowl from Atlantis. I will be your best friend and the lost lover you can’t forget. Even before you feel them, I will be the one who knows your needs. I will do the right thing, the wise thing, the whole thing. Be it sunset or sunrise, I will stand next to you, walk with you as the rain skins me alive. I will be the wife you always wanted, the mother of your children, the cook, the cleaner, the fixer of broken things and the feeder of your dog. For the rest of my days I will respect you, honor you and love you, and I’ll cry when you can’t see me. Like a fly on the wall, I will watch you grow old. I will watch your body wither, your mind fade. I will watch as your eyes turn to stone and your lips twist into a bitter, rusty grin, when you know that everything you’ve ever done was a joke on your ergo sum. I will watch as your teeth fall out and you become a ghost who wanders around the house, moaning and whimpering, wanting to go back to when everything was possible. I will watch your heart slowly starve and your bones decay. And when your tongue hangs loose from your mouth like a sock forgotten on the laundry line, standing by your side I’ll watch you as you die.
16 May, 2022