Two stars for Venus, evening, morning,
pearls on a naked neck.
Two twisted reeds stand on two lions;
maces frame her showing some leg,
black silk stockings with a lacy edge,
her fingers pull to their plump eclipse.

Lady of heaven, shrines, temples,
rosette of fertility, children, war.
The earliest deity known and adored*.
Love conquers men,
she conquered all.

© 2015 Polly Stretton

*circa 4000–3100 BC – Mesopotamia (Iraq–also parts of modern-day Iran, Syria and Turkey)