Ode to Desdemona/Lament of Othello

There is something about the morning dawn
Where e’en the fields of blood, only hours ‘fore
Are turned to gardens of peace and idyll
A glimpse of something Divine, Heavenly
A hint of the Garden of Eden past
And my sword, slick with the blood of my foes
Is bloody no more; bright and beautiful
As the morning dew hides gory remains
Tears of angels shining with divine light
Captured, the glory of dawn’s early light
Liquid pearls, treasures of the ocean deep
And I can only think of you.

My love, my bright treasure
Do I imagine it, or do you not
Stare at me with doe eyes soft and wicked
With Mischief dancing behind the windows
To thy soul? Is the smile that charmed me, that wrench’d
My beating heart out of my noble chest
Still made in my direction, or has it
Found a new suitor? Am I no longer
Your heart, beloved above all and all?

The morning dew can only hide the sight
Of reeking death and intestine open
To the gory flight of vultures cov’ring
My personal Hell. It cannot hide
The stench of excrement, the purging of
The bowels, the putrid and sickly smell
Of decay. Is that what your beauty has
Done to me? Loyal, faithful lieutenant
Mine spins a tale of deceit and betrayal
Where, behind my bullish back you whore
Yourself and I do not want to believe
Show me proof, show me thy handkerchief
My love, please.

Please do not cry my love, my treasure
It will all be over soon. Please do not
Struggle, my flower, I would not have your
Lovely skin bruised – pale, like the coat of a
White ewe, that now turns rose-red as my hands
Curl around that perfect alabaster neck
Your hands, that clench together in prayer
I remember when they had clenched me
In the passion of love-making, digging
Into my flesh as a crest of climax
Consumed us both. Had those hands touched others
Beyond mine? Why, my sweetness, my strumpet
Whore, why did you stray from my tender care?
Black sheep, stray and lost from the shepherd’s care
Never again will other hands touch you
Except, maybe, Death’s cold and ending grasp
No help comes for you, so why waste your breath
No mercy comes from me, so why dost thou
Speak?
The Lord will cast thee into perdition,
Whore, so why pray?
You have betrayed me, crushed the heart given
So freely, so why weep as if I dost
Care?
Rest now, my love.
I will come for thee soon.

-Lawrence Wang