The Last Prince: Leonti
Canto I
Mikhail Lermontov: “The history of a human soul, be it even the meanest soul, can hardly be less curious or less instructive than history of an entire nation”
In Russia’s recent Revolution, where the people lost,
For Capitalism’s liberating but selfish cost,
Again an aristocracy rose but from the filth of oil
But has any man’s wealth been made without such dark and staining toil?
Leon (Leonti) Volkhov the tale’s tortured soul,
Between his dark misdeeds you will demand his fall;
Unfulfilled by his life's immense prosperity,
At heart he’s modest but something else in reality;
His left hand gently crowned by a silver ring
Quietly showing what shining spoils life can bring.
In grazing and gentle kisses he found some pleasure,
In time it became something he could not treasure.
With wavy dark hair, intense emerald eyes; tall and slim
Were one of many things why women quickly fell for him,
A Muscovite who never whined or lost his smile,
Now living in St. Petersburg, social exile.
If it be winter’s frost, spring’s gloomy rainy days
Nothing can blemish the city’s unrivalled displays.
A city crafted by grand monuments and priceless art
Once you have visited, you would never wish to depart,
Jealous tourists call her the “Venice of the North”
But withered Venice can’t match her majestic worth.
On Neva’s conquered delta she was newly built,
Beauty rose from mere marshland and soft formless silt;
The people like Eden’s Adam, formed from common mud,
From their human flesh something was made worth their blood
The city like Eve born from a rib close to heart,
And from their grasp and love she won’t ever depart!
***
Leonti rests his weary eyes and tired feet
So to socialise again with the empty elite,
But every festive and excessive night was like the last,
Satisfying him less and less as time slowly goes past.
While he lies late invitations heavily mount,
So many events, there were too many to count.
Where and when will our dark hero first quietly go?
Will he find time for each party, dinner, social show?
Never wearing bright colours to compromise discretion,
Notoriously clothed in dark European fashion,
Allowing the true man within to be about,
Letting those eyes, that ring, charm to brightly stand out.
He arrives to the invited destination,
The residence dazzling with celebration;
The grand façade stretched along the dark river,
Reflected by the currents’ slow gentle shiver,
Unshadowing itself into that what shows and reflects:
Another city trapped in its mirroring effects.
A stunning legion of god like, youthful beauties
Always fill these soulless grand and lavish parties;
Wrapped and tied in great colour and luxurious expense
Wanting attention; dying their soft side for the more intense;
Each soul as disguised as their young gentle body;
Each try to be that high society lady.
His heart soon wakes to infatuation’s rough ways,
Setting his distinct emerald shine ablaze:
From these desperate and pathetic ranks one soul would rise,
Catching Leonti’s dream filled mind and disappointed eyes,
A woman his ignorance shouldn’t wish to deny,
Regardless if she’s in love with another guy.
Her fragrance hangs in the air for Leon to taste
He hopes to quickly find her in his passion’s haste,
Every restraining second slowly fuels his desire,
The sparked curiosity has set him on fire!
Piercingly pursuing her with his sharp flaming glance,
The eyes always make the first crucial advance!
Leonti waits to cut in a dance so to pounce on his prey,
But his attention is dragged another way:
Young Lady:
What are you doing here?
Leonti:
Trying to enjoy myself.
Young Lady:
You don’t look like you should be here.
Leonti:
True.
Young Lady:
Ok…..
Leonti:
And I see being the host doesn’t mean you should be rude.
Young Lady:
I didn’t mean that.
Leonti:
Don’t talk down to people.
Young Lady:
I can’t help it when I look at shit....
Leonti:
Then why mess with me?
Young Lady:
Do you know if Leonti Volkhov is here? I heard he was.
Leonti:
I’ve been looking for him for along time and still do not know who or what he is, and I work in his Office. How do you know he’d be here?
Young Lady:
He answered his invitation.
Leonti:
We had to answer our invitations? Why do you need to see him?
Young Lady:
I wanted to ask him ask a question and people say he’s changed a lot since London, there’s even a rumour he’s good looking and still well off.
Leonti:
Isn’t that shallow of you? What happened to a thing called love?
Young Lady:
Love is for virgin girls and teens; a woman must have the means to live a life now, and personality is just a bonus. Too bad you’re not bad looking yourself but I don’t go for office monkeys.
Leonti:
…..I know one thing which might interest you!
Young Lady:
Is it going to cost me?
Leonti:
A banana …….. you’re name Miss Amilia Petrova, studied in Boston? I’ll pass your message on to Leonti when I find him.
Amelia:
How did you do know? And excuse you its Mrs Raddair, and no. What else do you poorly know? So you must be-
Leonti:
Viktor Avdeuk, Leonti is my assistant!
Amelia:
Liar, prove it!,
Leonti:
How?
Amelia:
Call him.
Leonti:
Fine…………………….he’s phone is busy. You see those two there, one is his closet friend the other almost his sister, we'll ask them.
Amelia:
Alexandra and Constantine?
Leonti:
So you’re not a loner after all.
There a tall man of commanding build with fair hair
Holding a lady with all his love, all his care,
Piercing into one another soul so affectionately;
Her eyes mirror his passion as they dance elegantly;
Lost in their own world, forgetting what is around.
Constantine and Alexandra, we found!
Alexandra’s cheeks always gentle with a blush,
Luring anyone into a sweet childish crush.
A degree of shyness always hung about her,
This only enhances her splendour, child like and tender
Completed with shining eyes and their hints of green,
And coupled with a dazzling smile that must be seen.
Like most friends we mirror their tastes and character,
We blindly welcome all this sharing with laughter,
His old friendships at risk from a selfish heart’s tertiary
With her, Leonti was polite to the point of flattery,
Only she could break through and rush his stone pulse:
A vague love for her, not honourable, or false.
He dared once, regretted twice but thrice the reward,
Stole a kiss to see if another she adored,
But Alexandra did not need to whisper what both knew,
Many months past, her soul still quietly voices “its you”,
Marriage to Constantine, shall it end this?
How can Leonti forget her? Forget that kiss!
Constantine:
God damn it Leonti what are you up to now!
Leonti:
Remember Amelia? She’s here, and married.
Constantine:
We know. I’m not going to embarrass her as you did, her problem with Anton was not yours to be involved.
Alexandra:
I… we didn’t expect you here
Leonti:
What’s with the attitude, are you starting to feel like Amelia?
Alexandra:
Sometimes I do not know who you are?
Leonti:
It’s about you isn’t it?
Alexandra:
Leonti please, Constantine calm down.
Constantine:
Leave or something will happen and this time no one is drunk!
Alexandra:
You promised not to say-
Constantine:
And you said you loved-
Leonti:
You’re so weak, throw your fists… you’ll end up hurting her not me.
Who to find when she is taken? Where’s that other?
One who, in her embrace you forget life’s bother,
Your soul hurt from this tough discomfort, what will come to charm?
Envy intrudes, heating your soul with its simmering harm,
You sweat with thoughts, ideas, nightmares that ruin your peace,
Pray, wait, hope till these damning moments will in time cease.
No matter how close she may be it means nothing,
Like a mirage he can’t love, touch, what he’s seeing.
Distant onlooker at arms length and a at kiss’s press,
How to wash off this feeling and its murdering distress?
Leon drown yourself deep in other women’s scent,
Taste their lips: soon you’ll forget her and that moment.
While the music's playing Leonti is dancing,
Picking random partners worth his brief fancying.
Her face, smile, sincere and glowing worth anyone’s sight,
Yet he is not content, knowing she’ll only last the night
Like so many, she was an imperfect creature,
Equal to his talents but not his self-torture.
She walks across, her scent laces him with a kiss,
Where did she go? Amelia is his new temptress?
Out of curiosity, shy hope he searches for her;
He looks in every room, spies at every corner.
Taken by her and this chase, he dreams more and more
Until Leon begins to foolishly adore.
There she sits, there! Amongst her pretty friends and kind,
Her Golden locks shine with her blue eyes, admire his find!
A smile exchanged, a swift thought expressed, he leaves, she tails,
To the balcony Leon escapes, does he know who trails?
Why does Leonti sulk, why be and act so weak?
Does he even know what he wants, what he should seek!
Amelia:
What happened Leonti to the two that knew you? Did they forget who you were?
Leonti:
One did, the other is trying.
Amelia:
What happened?
Leonti:
Leonti?
Amelia:
I asked around, I was curious.
Leonti:
Didn’t curiosity kill the cat?
Amelia:
You really do not like to be known about do you?
Leonti:
Privacy is the one thing I value.
Amelia:
No wonder you’re so alone…….And… why did you expose Anton,
Leonti:
Why are you married?
Amelia:
You’re not going to dodge this, how long did you hide there and how did you guess?
Leonti:
My questions answer my answers, so why did you marry?
Amelia:
Because I love him.
Leonti:
Fuck off! What’s his name.
Ameila:
Nicholas Raddair.
Leonti:
There, listen to yourself, you referred to your husband so coldly, again why did you marry!
Amelia:
That’s private.
Leonti:
A secret for a secret, so speak.
Amelia:
I was tired of being alone…… also envious of others and….. I found someone who would be good company and keep a continuity in life, that’s what mattered. Now how does it answer the Anton situation?
Leonti:
It doesn’t…….(Leonti smirks)…… I was tired of searching and being alone, so I decided to act. I could not bare that emptiness, that, that, that, incompletion of self. And I saw you as the closest to me, that is why I exposed Anton, I could not let him ruin you…..But also I could not allow myself to ruin you as well.
Those lines he allowed from inside to frankly quote,
Lifted Amelia’s delicate heart to float;
Her self-control unfurled into a seducing courage,
Stirring the heavy passions of her bright audacious age,
Bringing about a timid and a foolish wish,
That became bolder, harder for her to vanquish.
Her soft lips parched of sin and its delicious vice
But her thoughts could only offer corrupt advice,
Her vivid blue eyes brilliant with a sparkling glow,
Her soul’s alight; Leonti’s lost in its delicate show,
She reveals one more petal to her enchantment
An allure that was sweetly coy and yet rampant.
Leonti’s unhappy lips she kisses and charms
Amelia catches him with her gentle arms,
Everything turned dark before his green eyes, his head swam;
He’s caught by surprise: “could this be a cruel joke or some scam!”
His wits gathered, he crushes her in his embrace;
His heart now runs for that brave but quiet Grace.
* * *
Leonti’s long hours of idleness were spent,
In an expensive, gallery like apartment,
With great windows framing this city's brilliant twilight
Into a wonderful picture of changing shade and light;
His few sculpture like furniture is spread about,
Each softly held a woman and love’s sweet doubt.
A strange joy lifts his heart to smile and mind to hush
With every gentle thought of her he would blush,
He retires to his home, this gallery from the night’s play,
Leon can’t help touch his mouth, which welcomed her lips soft stay;
He ignores a small, lonely hand written letter,
Thinking it was an invite and nothing better.
Shadows of the unconscious darken our soft dreams,
And unwrap to us its hidden, its forgotten themes,
Blind to our human eyes but there for our boundless mind to see,
Shrouded in cloaks and these riddles of self-myth and mystery;
In ordered chaos we begin to slowly learn,
That what we fear and that what we secretly yearn:
Lost among ancient mountains
His eyes curiously wonder to see
How far they pierce the distant heavens;
But behind their towering majesty
A fire grows bright with infamy.
The flames bleed its colour on the sky
Its light fierce and its heat intense,
He senses someone’s is in it, who and why?
The smoke is heavy, dark and dense
A figure hides behind, his heart races with suspense.
Leonti braves the fire and runs in,
But escape into another moment
Where a new illusion will begin;
His heart starts to jump with anxiety and excitement.
A woman stands away; he is caught by her enchantment.
As Leonti nears to see who the woman is
She disappears and drops a ring
He picks it up and notices that it is his,
Leonti raises it and sees something
Himself and that hidden figure duelling.
The figure face blurred, not clear enough to see
And with a crack of a pistol, it was the end of the imagery.
Leon jumps out of his bed rattled and sweating,
Tries quickly to convince himself “it’s nothing”.
He paces about, and notices that weightless letter
Realizing it carries something so much heavier.
He’s on his knees, he felt its brunt, he clinched his jaw,
Lost in thought, (what is it?) From it he can’t withdraw.
* * *
As time soon crept to the day of the funeral:
“Starts in his father's home, ends in a cathedral,”.
Nothing feeds or satisfies the soul better than sorrow,
But nothing gives a greater hope than a new tomorrow;
Blood relations, family friends were invited
Words of condolences and wisdom each cited.
In this Cathedral echoes of a choir rang
Like the hall, the heart it filled with sorrow's pang;
The cathedral's darkness lifted by many bright candles
Its light barely touching its ancient Christian idles;
The flames' reflection dance on their golden canvas,
Augmenting the distant figures with their brightness.
Leonti wanted to make his peace quietly alone;
When everyone left, his emotion could be shown.
Creeping sorrow slowly tares through into the human soul,
You feel its pain, and start to bleed cold tears to fill the hole;
Nothing, even grief touched his unshaven cheek,
Didn’t want seem to himself as frail or week:
When death took away your last breath, you seem now more at ease…..I pity you….. We could never tell a truth about to each other ….I know I feared the change of your view. Father like son? I hope not… And now we must pay for this Ignorance in guilt. But all this is not mine to keep. You believe in God, then your soul has eternity to wallow in it. I will never forgive you for how you treated my mother, but I will not forgive myself if I hate you……… Am I the son you wanted?…. I don’t care… will I be the father like you to my own son, I hope not, fuck your god and you Adam.
He kisses the cold face of the father’s body
And starts to curse because he himself isn’t ready,
Leonti viciously shivers and sheds that filling tear,
He wants to leave, but something doesn't let him disappear,
In his heart, a world hidden and filled with unrest,
Its kingdom he forever carries in his in chest.
She proudly carries his father’s costly present,
-A ruby necklace, but not a widow’s torment,
The name of this slim and dark serpent: Madame Zmaey,
His “old” step mother, Leonti’s greatest shame and dismay;
Leonti:
I see you finish off the pool boy.
Mme Zmaey:
I came to pay my respects to my husband, not to look pretty and sad.
Leonti:
Then Go! He’s the only man you didn’t kiss, this time you might actually find him attractive.
Mme Zmaey:
Have some tears have escaped your eyes, I thought when you’re 26, you were a man!
Leonti:
It kills you that you have no child that can call you its mother, even so, that child would call you its father. You drink and leave a trail of bastards like a man.
Mme Zmaey:
I always thought father was woman.
Leonti disappears to roam the city's street
Then at night to father's home he will retreat,
But Leon does not care for the Will at the moment
For he is too gripped by the city's strange enchantment,
He lets himself wander amongst these great buildings,
Letting his thoughts wander around greater feelings.
In the journey to father’s he’ll shape his courage,
And thinks of his own life, “Woman? Children? Marriage?”
Through St Petersburg with its maze of islands and bridges,
In the beautiful night his car thunders and rampages,
Carelessly he draws closer to his father’s home,
Where his sweet simple childhood used to play and roam.
Behind the streetlights and wet black trees now agleam,
His father’s mason soft cream colour starts to beam:
He enters through that great door, remembering who was there,
This immense place now empty of their cigarettes and care,
Visiting each room's corner of memory,
All wait as he acquaints himself with history.
Every penny and every stretch of land
Given to the son. A father’s final command!
But sadly for Leon there’s one difficult condition,
Mme Zmaey was to remain in the care of the mansion!
Leon will try to restrain her expensive taste,
Partly to cut the estate’s and “family’s waste”.
Occasionally he’ll visit his urban home
When amongst the blank elite he wishes to roam,
He loves and adores this place’s vast, distant solitude
So far away from hollow and reluctant gratitude;
A place to recharge ones soul and realize life!
So far away from self-pity and so called “strife”.
* * *
Two month after the funeral and new found wealth,
He leaves the place for his social and mental health;
Mme Zmeay no where to be seen and fortune struck once more
At a ball there was someone he could not wish to ignore,
She softly floats away into the quiet garden;
Swiftly from his company he asks for pardon.
Holding a ruby necklace but wishing it was her husband instead,
“Why such a gift” she wonders: its reasons she’ll dread.
As he nears, he treads softly past her attention,
Close enough to hold her in deep contemplation,
But the familiar crimson gleam of her necklace,
Broke Leon’s gentle timing, turning him witless,
He stares at it as his bewilderment lingers
Teasingly it hangs from her delicate fingers:
Leonti:
Is that from the him?
Amelia:
………Yes, he’s back home, in the U.S.
Leonti:
Are those tears for me?
Amelia:
…
Leonti:
What do you hold for me?
Amelia:
Nothing, not even a heart.
Leonti:
Then as he took everything from you, heart, mind and smile, let me take your pain. Your husband…forget him. I’m now him.
Places the necklace around her and steals a kiss
A delicate smile whispers through her grey sadness;
Majestically they arrive onto the ballroom floor
Their entrance, this act no one will forget or could ignore,
The couple delicately place their arms around
To the music's influencing tempo and sound.
(Dear listener if, music be the food of love,
Then these young hearts have no reason to starve,
But gluttony is a dish taken too far
Will this couple stay as they are?
Love is a poet’s foolish dream
But lust is every man’s true theme.)
"I write, I hope, I wait
For the soft kiss of my soul mate.”
Standing out with a quiet tenderness,
But weighs us down with hidden sadness,
So sharp and light in sentiment,
It creates its own unbridled moment.
In love’s dark enchantment
Hope will come to blind our judgment,
In the shadows of delusion
We’ll welcome her shy intrusion.
Our heart’s maybe, perhaps are tragically blind
But our eyes are there to judge and to find.
* * *
As our young Leonti tries to rest from the night
Mme Zmaey has come to bother, to pest, to bite;
But there was something different about that woman’s smile
Her cheerful dimples deep and dark with secrecy and guile,
And her sharp brown eyes burn bright with a secret joy,
Glimmering through this weak attempt at being coy.
Mme Zmaey:
I want my money in a week advance, I need go out! So please Leonti, it would be great if it were given.
Leonti:
You asked for the same thing last week.
Mme Zmaey:
Please I….. really need it!
Leonti:
Is it what you need or rather want?
Mme Zmaey:
Need.
Leonti:
Come, get on your knees….
He stands, that smirk appears and unfastens his belt,
She looks up, her joy into tears are to melt,
Slowly he saviours her surrender before he unzips,
Raises her head, caresses her cheeks to her offered lips;
In causing her pain Leon finds some thrill to treasure,
He laughs, walks past, leaving her he finds his pleasure!
Leonti:
You’re nothing but a whore! Take your money, I need a piss.
Mme Zmaey:
No! You’ll pay for that.
Leonti:
Since when do you have pride and dignity?
Mme Zmaey:
I warn you!
Leonti:
Warn me again, I still won’t listen. Go find something to fill your mouth before a wasp flies in it.
Mme Zmaey:
We’re the same, but I don’t mask my habits under the false pretence of love. The third parties to every troubled couple, indulging our lust in others all because we can’t satisfy ourselves. Your dissatisfaction comes from your the fact you don’t know what you want, that’s why you are alone.
Leonti:
Get out.
Mme Zmaey:
Looks like I took the piss.
She leaves knowing and proud of damage she caused,
Again she’ll return to continue what was paused.
* * *
The stars once more crowned the heavens,
Again his loathing guilt fiercely threatens
And yet Leonti did not escape from Amelia's hold
But he did not wish to be alone, or perhaps become cold?
But that dream, again haunts our troubled Leonti
Confused yet mesmerised by its strange mystery.
What’s saving him is that Amelia is still near
But will his injured self cause her to disappear?
Leon must face this: realise the self to know ones world,
Then all your secrets and troubles to you will be unfurled,
Few understand this and fewer realise,
Our world is created by the mind not our eyes.
But Leon could not stay content in being still,
There was too much time not to waste, and not to fill.
As Leonti roams her mansion’s unfamiliar vastness
Something, intuition, fate, would lead him to his sadness.
He finds a room, Leon should leave but doesn’t turn,
His curiosity begißns to brightly burn.
He enters the study of her absent other
Roaming, seeking like a noisy little brother,
A draw is faintly breaking out of the desk’s French design,
Asking him to peak into a private life, this secret shrine;
Leon looks through some of its trinkets and writing,
So interesting, it becomes self-inviting:
I struggle to write your name on this page, knowing it marks an end. But there are no words to write to explain my feelings. But I am torn between my promise to love one forever and the honesty to love another. I can’t explain why I am doing this. I wish to be with you and only you but it is not the time. I proved my love, I gave that necklace to Amelia…..a name I guess you never wish to hear or read. Go humiliate her, I pity her but the fact I can’t have or hold you without another woman staring at us takes away any sympathy I have. All this does sound stupid, it should, I can’t lie about something like this, I am not clever enough do that.
Actions that carry or have no explanation,
He takes this note just out of appreciation,
Collecting it as if it were a gem of honesty,
To fill his empty chest with feelings and love’s majesty,
There in himself he might have something to treasure,
A memory that’s not merely pain or pleasure.
Leon escapes to the room’s private balcony,
To acquaint himself with this bizarre agony.
The night here to accompany him with the regret of loss,
Within he searches its cause, a new peace he’ll come across,
Still lost in the consuming shadows of sorrow,
No pleasant memory he could have or borrow.
A gentle breeze brushes to play with his dark hair
Trying to wake him from this self imposed despair;
The river like a black shining cloak ruffled by the tide,
He dreams it would swathe round him and be kept inside;
Amelia breaks Leon’s blind and saddened glare,
But something else her ring gripped him to sadly stare.
Amelia:
Why are you here?
Leonti:
Because I am nothing.
Amelia:
You are something, remember you’re supposed to be my husband?
Leonti:
I’m not your husband, it was momentary thing……like everything in life.
Amelia:
I am a momentary thing?
Leonti:
If I answer you’d become it.
Amelia:
You already have. But why be like this? Why destroy everything, why live like that
Leonti:
Its only thing that is interests me any more. Everything around us rests too much on insubstantial subjects, rules, beliefs, behaviours, perceptions! I’m tired of living in this tower of ideology, built on nothingness, where’s the solid grounding…… and by bringing chaos I again walk the earth.
Amelia:
You are so full of shit and you’re a coward, you’re afraid of letting others down, so you cause cruelty as to not let them to rely on you. Sometimes I wonder if you are the devil who tires to be human or the man who tries to be the devil.
Leonti:
Take your pick,
Amelia:
But I don’t understand why be so kind at the same time, protecting me from Anton and comforting me?
Leonti:
I was jealous and I was horny, you just misunderstood the situations.
Her wonderful blue eyes start to melt with a tear,
But Amelia's courage will not let it appear,
With a look that said enough, Leon should’ve scared her away,
But she stood there, her body replied “together we stay”,
Leonti turns and shrugs her off, telling her to leave
That tear, and tears escape and she runs to grieve!
His soul disjointed from his distant heart, that heart from his head:
A difficult thought staggers in- whishing he were dead:
“….…. Do I love you, maybe enough to accept or say it? Then what is love, what is it? I know one thing what I do not want, but what I do, I don’t? Amelia like most things, I know I can find better but I will find something more than you? First I must know what I am? A prick? If so that only partially completes my image....”
* * *
Again as our tired young Leonti tries to rest,
Zmaey came to lay havoc into his soul and chest,
But as her tongue coiled and drew her sharp fangs to attack
Leonti hands Raddair’s loving letter and she falls back,
Alone in the quietest and darkest of nights
He is left to freely roams what Kierkegaard writes.
Lost in a world, lost in himself, he wants to learn,
What is the thought, feeling that does nothing but burn,
Trying to find the reasons for his uneasiness and it to vanish
Leon dreams eyes open with thoughts he will never finish,
Hoping to find answers to an unfound question,
Giving words to feelings that lack definition.
Leon’s lips slow to love’s difficult confession,
Because he is desperate for its possession,
His confused soul pitifully whispers a faint, dear name -
He knows who it is, inside of him it echoes with shame,
He will ask for a meeting and future trouble,
In her life and heart he should not play or dabble.
The object of Leonti's passion will differ in name,
But the infatuation for her will always be the same.
The chosen place and moment to meet,
During an opera, a place of drama and deceit,
But when together they shall appear?
When everyone is lost in a hero's tear.
* * *
Leonti stares into this sad world of unrest,
When will it be the end of love’s dizzying quest,
His binoculars wonder away from the opera
To find our dear soft blushing and engaged Alexandra,
And as threads of his hope weave a dream for him to see,
A dream to believe but keep just in memory;
But he’ll chase it until it becomes a private nightmare
He is his soul cause and reason for his stupid despair.
The scene has come, now he’ll act his own tragedy
On the staircase he waits for his loving lady;
Leonti’s calm rocked by his trembling nerves and heart
What chaos will it bring, what trouble it will start?
He’s lost in the currents of infatuation
Drown Leon will, if he does not realise his situation:
I stand here, with nothing but these thoughts and expectations that won’t happen! A guilt touches me, but from what action, this one? The pain I will be inflicting! Is it because I know she won’t last long…..
…..I do not know until I try…….. I should leave, let her be disappointed, it’s a small in comparison to what will happen…..
No,… I can’t be alone anymore.
Alexandra descends down this lonesome staircase,
He is further enchanted when they are face to face.
Desire whispers a kiss on his trembling lips,
Leonti cannot stand firm, his self-control slips;
Again she will not lend herself to his wanting impulse,
He kisses her shoulder, her neck and feels her racing pulse;
A tear escapes, her lips crease into a sad smile
And softly mutters “is this pain you cause worthwhile?”
She regretfully pecks Leon’s cheek, and softly presses away,
How torturing is love’s unjust but breathe taking display.
***
Love, his deprived heart demands and needs to retrieve,
Those affairs, single drops of lust used to relieve
The thirst of his loneliness by frequent nightly visits
Developing one of Leonti’s private flawed habits;
But it saddens him as their efforts were futile,
All this just was to forget her touch, gentle smile.
The precious night again cast’s its boundless veil,
The full moon it boasts glows a faint light, almost frail,
He wakes, a sharp silhouette of the window’s frame
Falls on him with a cutting and a nailing shame,
He leaves the crossed bed and her loosely clothed,
Again with this raw guilt and torture he loathed.
He nears the chilled window and sadly stares through,
The gentle moon softens the sky from black to blue,
He dreams, lives in its endless depth pierced by studded stars
With their spiky and delicate gleam the night it scars.
Our tortured charmer turns to the occupied bed,
She lies there, barely covered from foot to head.
Another naïve affair who hoped, tried and thought
She can pure this man of his darkness, of his rot.
He arches and tamely presses his lips on hers,
Saying goodbye to one more (last?) of his lovers;
Leonti docilely covers her shivering flesh
Granting her, a last and unknowing quiet wish.
He looks at her as if she were a distant star
Something that should only be seen, loved from afar.
* * *
Leonti:
I can’t believe you came…
Constantine:
I was hoping not to see you.
Leonti:
You still carry your gun, I thought you were promoted?
Constantine:
I was and you know in Russia we must carry cash, suspicion and bullets. One is the police, the other to stay alive and one for you. What are you carry?
Leonti:
Do you know what I carry?
Constantine:
Some Trojans?
Leonti:
That and the memory of Alex……..my gun is in my desk, and money attracts unwanted attention and then sirens, a jail cell and then government.
Constantine:
What do you want?
Leonti:
A game of cards and a drink?
Constantine:
Talk first, then everything else.
With grey aged streaks across his dark hair
And blue eyes that still have its youthful flair,
A well dressed man, two decades their senior is introduced,
His name Nicholas Raddair, dread and surprise it produced,
Both men’s bitter squabbles were dropped, forgotten,
Leonti understands things are about to get rotten.
Raddair:
Who is Leonti?
Leonti:
And who do you think you are?
Raddair:
Amelia’s husband.
Leonti:
And Zmaey’s Lover!
Constantine:
Leonti! Let’s settle this like men, both of you sit!
Raddair:
Men! How much vodka have you drunk.
Constantine:
Not a word Leonti! What do you want?
Raddair:
An apology.
Leonti:
Apologise? Does Amelia even now about you and Zmaey?......I thought so. Leave.
Constantine:
I think you should go.
Leonti:
Why are you still here, go cheat on your wife again!
Raddair draws a gun from his expensive high-priced suit
Leon reacts the quicker, fires before the senior could shoot,
Leonti hits the elder man right of the chest,
Raddair’s flung back and feels the bullet's zest,
Leon waits, Raddiar aims but grows weak, more blood leaks
He can’t shoot, and doesn’t hit the target he seeks.
Through Leonti’s green eyes an evil fury blazed,
And tells Contanstine “Raddair should not to be raised”,
A tall woman runs to tend to her fallen champion,
The cause, root of this bloody mess in Leon’s opinion
Zmaey runs to Raddair, she told of him the affair,
Now kisses, apologises for this nightmare.
Leon pushes Zmaey away from her love with force,
And he stamps on Raddair’s deep wound without remorse,
Raddair’s eyes begged for relief, Leon smiles at his cries,
And retrieves the victim’s gun to everyone’s surprise,
The gun emptied of bullets bar the one in the barrel
Suggesting Raddair should kill himself to end this qurrel!
Raddair still to weak to aim and shoot Leonti,
He drops it, but is taken to resume this insanity,
To the Leonti that deadly weapon was finally raised,
In Mme Zmaey a thought sparked and fiercely blazed;
He turns his back to her and raises both his hands,
Defenceless, he wants her to shoot, invites her, commands!
Her dainty grip lifts its loaded and deadly weight
And points the long barrel to a desired fate.
Zmaey’s anger and hatred gave her a confident, firm hold
What will her action cause? What destiny will it unfold?
Leonti turns away from the stained, angered Zmaey
Tries to walk off to resume the rest of his day.
Mme Zmaey:
Bastard!
Leonti:
Shoot! Redeem yourself! Give me my death.
Raddair:
Stop, please!
Mme Zmaey:
You’ve treaded me like a whore, a slut, a snake! Yet you go kiss another man’s love
when their back is turned, you’re the whore, the slut, the snake!
Leonti:
You told Raddair about me, therefore you brought him. But I’ll forgive you, I’m not sure he will
but a promise is a promise, and he’ll love you no matter what!
Mme Zmaey:
I don’t want your pity.
Leonti:
Then take the shoot.
He turns his back to her to face the thought of death,
Leon wants the execution that ends his mortal breath;
She shoots, he’s struck and feels the burning pain of his dark wish,
But her aim was not decent enough to kill and to vanquish,
Leon staggers to the desk and slumps to his chair,
The bullet’s torture still does not match his despair.
Leonti:
Don’t shoot her Constantine, Ignore her and call the ambulance, she’s nothing.
Mme Zmaey:
Don’t brush me away!
Leonti:
What do you expect me to do with filth?
Mme Zmaey:
Then who brushed you away at the staircase? A-
And through her throat a bullet punctured
The name choked into a whisper and left uncaptured,
She’s choking under this relentless red, warm flood;
Her lungs begin to swell with the her own drowning blood,
The escaping blood fills the soft folds of her clothes,
Life leaves her so this pain stops and no longer grows,
A dark smile escapes, Leon forgets his own wound’s torment
In her unbearably struggle, he finds his enjoyment.
Raddair:
Why are you laughing?
Constantine;
Leon you need the Hospital.
Raddiar:
Why are you still laughing!
Leonti:
Can’t you see I can’t be killed…….. but how beautiful was her death? That red and her pale
skin, if we had snow it would be brilliant…..I enjoy playing with her, you must know that feeling
too Nicholas? Why aren’t you laughing?
Raddair:
Monster!
Leonti:
Grrrrrrr
Constantine:
You’ve lost too much blood, save your strength and shut up Leon!
Leonti:
My blood was weighing me down, give me Demon*…….. with some wine, make it red to suite
the occasion…. Don’t worry Constantine, I won’t die.
Raddair:
You sick fuck…....
Leonti:
Your wife a similar opinion but it wasn’t so poetically…..
Leonti soon passes out with one thing in mind
Is each woman his Tamara? The great unattainable find?
Is Leon’s kiss that deadly? Or are his thoughts that savage
That whatever woman comes is just there to demote, ravage?
…..As the screaming bright siren call to an emergency
His friend carries him to the ambulance and hides her corpse in secrecy….
Raddair shamefully left, knowing nothing could be done,
He’ll have his moment but shall it involve a gun?