For Psyche

‘Let no man love her beauty. Instead, plant in her heart a love for one insignificant and lowly, a love that will bring her nothing but unrequited shame.’

Every night, as absolute darkness descended, he would alight by the window.

‘Let her live as the abandoned wife of a monster, her life consumed by disgrace and loneliness.’

In the quiet darkness, uncertainty writhed like a beast. What if he were to turn on her, his hands tightening around her throat? What if he were to vanish in this very moment, never to return? These were the fears that tormented her.

‘Teach that arrogant princess the price of her undeserved beauty with the very power you possess, Eros.’

Yet, whenever he descended by her window, all her anxieties would melt away, as if they were nothing but illusions.

“What if I am the monster you have heard of?”

“Then, you will be the husband I expected.”

Inside the chamber, the god who defied his mother leaned over the princess in their bed. His broad shoulders cast an invisible shadow, engulfing her.

Is your love, I wonder, as complete as you claim mine to be?