Cauldron Anthology Issue 3: Year 1 Collection Cauldron Anthology Year One Issue FINAL 1.17.18 | Page 16

i am not an insult
Linda M. Crate
i always wanted you to
draw nearer
to allow my desires to wash
over you,
but it was always what
you wanted;
heaven forbid i should want you
because that was strange or exasperating
yet you could want me
whenever you so
pleased—
my desires and my needs were left
unmet and so i became the succubus or siren
that always taunted you with my
song,
but i see nothing wrong
with admitting i wanted you and wanting your
body upon my body shouldn’t have been
such a big deal if you were honest
with yourself
i think you’d see the way you treated me
was wrong—
i don’t understand why a man can be an imp
without insult,
but a woman must always remain “pure”
with only thoughts of virtue
she cannot house any sexual appetites of her own.