Poetry of Kansas

Men Know the Penalty

There is a honey in the Ancient East
Which bees distill from a dark low-growing flower;
Amber as light, to eager lips a feast,
But certain tragic death within the hour.
Men know the penalty, and yet they eat,
Helpless against seduction such as this
Forget the poison in the maddening sweet,
As I dishonor when I take your kiss.

Kansas Poets
Edited by May William Ward
(New York: Henry Harrison. 1935)
Page 206

 
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April 30, 2005 / John & Susan Howell / Wichita, Kansas / howell@kotn.org
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