Pygmalion

Startled when a living eye appeared
To gaze beneath the polished marble stone
I stood enthralled, astonished. Then I feared
My eager tools might ravage facial bone
Or sacred flesh within the supple layered
Features of this rock. The monotone
Of day in day out prayer had persevered
On God who said this unsexed haggard crone,
My stony privacy, should yield to grace,
A muse called Chastity. Her gentle smile
Should bring me comfort still. And now a face
Of neither cynicism nor of guile
Accompanies my solitude; and eyes
Aglow with blessings solace yestersighs.

She knelt down next to me

She knelt down next to me in a church one day,
A gothic structure old with ancient prayers
And spectral traces of forgotten cares.
I had withdrawn into a quiet bay
As much to hide as seek some other way
To pacify the troubling, awful flares
Of envy, lust and rage, the anxious fears
And passionate desires that seemed to crave
Attention night and day. I might belay
These fierce emotions and climb the stairs
Of quiet piety beyond the glares
Of my own righteousness if she would stay
A while and add a prayer to my Amen….
I thought. I never laid eyes on her again. 

Mail Order Bride

I went down to the post office one day
A few years ago and the postmaster
Said you Ken Bartsch that's me yessir I said
Well something here special delivery
Great I said Christmas in July although 
It wasn't July and I wasn’t expecting
 
Anything waited a while expecting
A parcel or box of some sort the day
Grew long I wasn’t in any hurry though
Cause I was pretty much my own master
A woman asked special delivery
Yes ma’am I been waiting a while I said
 
She smiled real nice and here I am she said
Well I thought cute but I’m not expecting
A woman right now I’ve been delivered
Enough problems already for one day
I’d like to hear again what the master
Says then go about my business though
 
I’m frankly not yet sure what that is though
When it comes I’ll know it and then she said
I’m it your mail order bride the Master
Sent with a message you’re not expecting
And didn’t especially want but the day
Of sunshine comes when you’re delivered
 
So now I'm sent special delivery
Your own best friend as a blessed sign though
Mostly unwelcome and this is the day
The Lord has made that’s well and good I said
I’ve been waiting a long time expecting
Some encouraging word from the master
 
But you see I don't hear from the master
And that's okay since he troubled to deliver
Me I have settled down and don't expect
Surprises she cried out surprise although
You didn’t ask for me I’m here wow I said
But I didn’t know she was my lucky day
  
The master sent Chastity special delivery
And as she said the sunshine of my day
Though I expected something different

to Mary of Bethany, Lady Chastity I

I should not start my letter with that word
Especially as I think of whom you love
Entirely and forever your preferred,
A man, another lover, far above
 
Especially as I think of whom I love
Commanding with a beauty unsurpassed,
A man, an able comrade, far above
My simple needs and longings all amassed
 
Commanding with a beauty far surpassed
They want to shine like stars in darkest night,
My simple needs and longings all amassed
But rising to that sky’s ascending height
 
He sparkles better than the stars of night
As you sit listening wondering at his feet
While rising to that sky ascending height
And can I dare to hope that you would meet
 
As you sit listening wondering at his feet
With one whose needs are greater than his charm?
And yet I dare to hope that you will meet
In quiet conversation to disarm
 
The one whose needs are greater than his charm
My common sin, I covet someone’s wife
And hope by conversation to disarm
Although I know the end is endless strife 

My hidden sin, I crave another’s wife
I see in her an answer to my dreams
Although I know their end is endless strife
A tangled rat’s nest maze of stupid schemes

I see in her an answer to my dreams
My longing and my heartaches all fulfilled
A love’s nest vision glazed in harmless schemes
Where wanton passions finally are stilled

My longing and my heartaches all fulfilled
Until the dies irae dies illa
Of wanton passions finally is chilled
And I am found in alien boudoir

When the dies irae dies illa
Exposes me for playing such a fool
And when I’m found in alien boudoir
Amid the blushes of her reticule

Exposed to all for playing such a fool
I cannot answer or explain my case
Amid the brushes of their ridicule
For I have sworn to be forever chaste

I cannot answer or explain my case
When language knows no sexualizing needs
And I have sworn to be forever chaste
Of thoughts words and forbidden deeds

Where language knows no sexualizing needs
What explanations can I hope to give
Of thoughts words or forbidden deeds
Within the scope of my life’s narrative

What explanations should I try to give
To Chastity who dwells in spirit pure
Within the pages of my narrative?
Your soulful gaze on him suggests allure 

To one who hoped to live in spirit pure.
I’ll bring a troubled past before your eyes.
Your soulful gaze on him presents a lure 
To follow him who keeps you as his prize

He knew my troubled past before his eyes
Came down to rest upon your lovely face 
You followed him who kept you as his prize
And I could only follow in my place

And learn to walk before his dazzling face
Entirely and forever my preferred,
Because I have to follow in my place
I shall not start my letter with that word.