Eyes flash like waves near crashing
throwing thunderbolts of despair.
Glaucus swims to me, an eel flowing
seal-slick tail and seagrass, hair.

“Give me a cup for love,” he pleads,
“to turn Scylla’s gaze to me.
She is the true pearl my heart needs
in this cold and lonely sea!”

Through the lace-gray fog I find her,
resembling nothing more, than
an ordinary pebble crashed upon
my mind’s sharp and rocky shore.

Her pale eyes must be broken
to miss the breathless beauty in
each curve of every glistening scale–
a divine man clothed in fish’s skin.

What gentle woman would refuse
to embrace such a godly prize–
immortal strength and bold desire infused
with raging powers of the surging tides?

I tell him I will help him,
and in that vow, I do not lie…
The dark magics I brew in my cup
offer gifts of deeper sight.

Smoldering branches, burn deceptions,
baneful leaves and flowers decay.
Fruit of truth—a revelation.
In this cup, the light of day. 

Be revealed, scuttling cruelty.
Be revealed, heart’s dismay.
Be revealed, false hounds of passion.
With this cup, my will make way. 

Not jealousy, but love’s sacrifice–
a heart cracked pure and cruel
tips the cup into the bath
and poisons Scylla’s pool.

Truth strips the mask of comely skin,
lets loose the spectacle that lies within
the needle teeth, the shrieking bark–
an endless thrash of tentacled arms.

She will screech for all eternity
astride harrowing rocks displayed,
a warning to all unlucky sailors
who dare steer their ships this way.

Published by Alfred Music, 2015, in the score; 
Circe Invidiosa: Sonata No. 1 for the Piano, by Tom Gerou.