the sand is littered with flowers
on this damp december day.

there are red poppies on the ground
and their petals are harsh and cold
they are wet, with the salt of tears.

she is weeping with a hot furious grief
mourning her lost children and her lost self
her rage has been spent
and all she has left now is her huddled pain.

leave me!
she cries
I was created only to cause sickness in infants!
her voice breaks on the last word, remembering

and the waves are flowing in and out
in and out
a gentle hushhh on the seashore

there are white roses floating in the water
their stems are thick and thorny
and they are tangled in snaky coils

her harsh sobbing has died down
and only the soft mewling of an injured animal can be heard
she has sunk down
beneath the surface of the water

her hair tangles in the briars
her crowning glory
her enchanted net
has spread too wide
and caught her doom instead

the sand is dirtied with the footprints of grief
the sea has taken on a small measure more salt
and the world has first known sadness

A/N: This is a take on the Lilith described in The Alphabet of Ben-Sira (http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/The_Alphabet_of_Ben_Sira#Lilith). Traditionally, Lilith is supposed to have very beautiful and long hair. The Romantic poets and painters represented Lilith with white roses and poppies, which represent sterile passion and death and cold respectively.