Pleasure and Pain

Venus and Cupid, the Honey Thief, by Lucas Cranach the Elder, ca. 1525. Wikimedia Commons

Pleasure and pain —

Primeval twins

Locked in combat for to reign,

Striving every instant to win.

Soon as the victor’s crowned

The vanquished’s full throated fury sounds,

And zeal rebounds

Carrying them again to the battleground,

Bound like Sisyphus to infernal mound.

© Conor MacCormack, 2019