He gives
Pomegranate promises red-ripe and full,
I see
A murder of crows. Heart hammering,
I heed
Their ink-cloud warning.

He presents
Luscious secrets, succulent and sweet,
I spy
An unkindness of ravens. Skin tingling,
I defer
To wing-whirl urgency.

He persists, 
Feigning fidelity midst dissenting caws.
I resist
A culprit’s cunning.

I yield
At last, queen to knave, 
He bows,
Eyes alight in unearned triumph.

I wait
In trepidation to know my sisters’ fate.
He laughs 
To the tune of jangling keys.
I ask
Shyly, access to all quarters.

He acquiesces
Slyly, to all but one.
He leaves
As ravens scream.
I know
The room to enter.

I find
An apocalypse of corpses.

[Deborah Sage is a native of Kentucky, USA. She has most recently been published in Eternal Haunted Summer, Literary LEO, Fairy Tale Magazine, From the Farther Trees, the 2022 Dwarf Stars Anthology, Amethyst Press’ All Shall Be Well anthology for Julian of Norwich, and Eye to the Telescope.]