Water Into Wine by Valerie Parente

Since the day Celine was born
she had the shadows on her mind,
drawn to the dark arts,
the antithesis to the light.

She turned to witchcraft
where she could dictate her own life
where there’s solace without man
and age is the measure of being wise.

The witch attended the sabbath
unafraid of what she might find
but that all changed
at the stroke of midnight.

An incubus himself
who was not inherently unkind
on the contrary, he was enticing
and he took advantage of her pride.

Hissing, “Through hell or high water,
I’ll be by your side.”
So the young witch taught herself
how to turn water into wine.

Though she could ward off evil
she was called ungodly in others’ eyes
for the church said, “You must be sober,
when you pray to the divine.”

Therein lied to greatest dilemma,
the finest of fine lines
between intoxication and medication
and to that she was blind.

Some people are predisposed
to a magic so clandestine,
destined to make the most
of the occult despite its crimes.

Celine always had a darkness in her
and for that, she had to at least try
to manipulate hell on the surface
before hell ruptured from inside.

The witch could feel a piece of heaven
in the potions fermented over time
but there’s no such thing as heaven
without a hell, she realized.

– Valerie Parente (2-10-2024)