Arianna

Hope against hope,
He releases a form from the stone
Deft hands shaping
The curve of her lips and the flow of her hair
"Arianna I shall call you," he whispers softly --
With chisel he frees her:
His heart's desire from lifeless granite

"Ahh," he cries,
"I've suffered alone.
With just my work to give me life
Far too long,
But now I see --
The Muse's final gift shall be my wife."

Time after time
Metal kisses stone
Tired lungs breathe in
The dust of her birth, and his eyes shed a tear

"Arianna, I grow weary
My vision grows dimmer,
My hammer grows heavy
But I shall not rest till you stand before me"

Soon at last
The long work is done:
The greatest test of his long life
"The pain," he cries,
"Shall now bear fruit
The Muse's final gift shall be my wife."

"All I ever wanted
Was to bring one thing of true beauty into this world...
Over strange paths
I have travelled in my search
To find the magic
That could turn an icy heart of stone to flesh...
FLESH!"

(The Sorcerer speaks...)
"Call upon life and death and magic:
Call upon all the powers in me
All for the stone named Arianna --
Life from the rock shall now break free..."

And as the last arcane words are chanted
A bolt of lightning leaves his hand
And in an orange acrid smoke
A human figure stands!

"In beauty -- incomparable:
In kindness -- unsurpassed.
In gentleness and wisdom,
Arianna has been blessed.
Why then in her company
Do I feel so all alone?
I've made the perfect woman --
Except she has no soul.
She doesn't truly love me
For she hasn't a free will.
She's an animated golem --
Her heart beats and yet is still."
All this the Sculptor realized
As they danced in the cold moonlight,
And a tear fell from his eye --
And touched her cheek...

Arianna pulls away,
Comprehension in her eyes.
Feeling the searing pain of life
On her cheek for the first time
She embraces the man tightly
As she embraces life itself
Then she looks him in the eye and says "Sculptor--
I'm my own woman now!"

And how the image burned itself
Deep into his mind
As she turned on the horizon
To look at him one last time
"I love you deeply," she had said,
"and thank you for my life
But there's a world out there for me
I feel its call within me
And into that world I must go."

Then an angel bathed in light,
So bright his eyes fill with tears
Comes to stand before him now --
He looks upon her without fear
"Muse," he cries, "I've failed my life."
In his despair -- but she just smiles
"No," she laughs, "the circle is closed --
Arianna is our child!

Take my hand -- leave pain behind.
For now your work is done..."

...why, all of Longview is stirring with gossip. Who was she? Why did you never tell me about her? And more importantly, where has she gone? It seemed that one day you were alone, the next you appear in town with a beautiful wife half your age, and the next you are alone again. What has happened? You grow strange these days and I can't help but wonder if.....Ah! I'll not say it. Times are bad enough...