Ideas

 

Marquise de Merteuil had an idea.

Do we punish ideas?

A forward thinker, perhaps,

Not easily relatable, but

Also, increasingly unpredictable.

Convince me, you don’t happily

Read her letters with a lascivious

Grin permeating your face,

Your stomach swelling with wine.

 

Vicomte de Valmont had an idea.

Search for a challenge.

More admirable than the simpering

Thoughts of the pure and chaste.

Brilliance does not link cohesively

With indomitable goodness or nobility.

Sometimes we must accept the

Corrupt machinations of the devious,

If only for their ingenuity.

 

Madame de Tourvel had an idea.

Fidelity, more a tradition than

An epiphany. A husband is a

Blessing, surely, a plentiful dinner

That need only be accentuated by

A fine wine. She caught fever

From an ill-advised adventure,

When otherwise she would have

Lived long, dry, complete.

 

Cécile de Volanges had an idea.

Chastity, purity, the glory of

Unwavering virtue. She succumbed

For a time, to the temptations

Of mad dreamers, but she returned

Promptly, locking herself away.

A morality tale neatly packaged,

But maybe she scratched the convent

Walls, rubbing her hands raw.

After all her lover was still

Alive and warm, despite a few stains.

 

Chevalier Danceny had an idea.  

Love can outlast flights of

Lust. Touching the curves of

A marquise does not defile the

Beloved lady. He wanted to strike

The desire from his system so

That his true lover only feels

The hands of the adoring. He

Will duel for her honor, without

Hypocrisy. Why should it be such

A crime to give body to one

And pledge soul to another?

 

Marquise composes this deranged

Orchestra, and they despise her

For knowing the signs of weakness.

They hate the instrument of

Exploitation, but not themselves

for their easily corrupted hearts.

She may be haggard, one-eyed, and

Impoverished, but she does survive

In the world without protection.

That’s a dangerous idea, isn’t it?

The wicked can still triumph.