: Eve :
an excerpt by Katharine Coles
Don’t consult the cost.
Rather, mind the body.
Course, occluded, lost
In its heedlessness
It finds itself: too heady
To consult the cost.
Balance grace and dross;
Weigh desire and duty.
Cursed, occult, lost
In my nakedness—
Mea culpa. Steady.
I can’t account the cost
Of what I’ve won. At least
I kept my word. I’d stay
Any course to lose
Everything like this,
To be every body’s
Curse. I cut my losses.
I do not mind the cost.
