Arachne

Arachne weaved a finer thread

Than any girl before or since,

Diaphanous folds above her head

Cascading down in golden tints 

Like magic at her fingertips 

That would in any man inspire 

To press with passion on the lips 

The one enwrapped within its fire. 

To pass beneath the veil and find 

A harness to her pleasure’s will 

And parting sensuous legs entwined. 

At heaven’s gate to drink their fill. 

But Athena turned her love to hate 

The flowing gold to silver light 

The web of lust became a bait 

That led the trapped into the night. 

A butterfly who passed before 

Did smile that he had come too late 

And on he fluttered to the shore 

Beside the eucalyptus tree to mate.

—okei

The image is "Lesbia" (1887) by the British painter John Reinhard Weguelin (1849-1927).