Pledge – bond, allegiance, alliance, a yearning 

for a god; mercy, agape, grace; a chance against 

the odds; a dervish dance; benevolence. In a 

sentence: The first love was cherubic eros, a child 

with a flaming torch; gold and leaden arrows, one 

to arouse – the other for unfathomable sorrow.

 

Deception – duplicitous, the let-down, the Judas Kiss; 

a double-crossing, ill offering; the trick among tricks 

that colors history. In a sentence: There was little doubt 

in ancient days that Medea, slayer of offspring, 

chariot-maid, was by a spouse – by the stars, 

by the forces of a spinning earth – betrayed. 

Forgiveness – pity, mercy, leniency. In a sentence: 

The earliest Greek dream for repentance is a stable 

to clean, its benches built for milking cows, 

not a sinner’s crawl; a purging of the stench 

of an unkept stall; a never forgotten love, 

Penelope’s woven – and unwoven – shawl. 

Faith – hope, truth, fealty, constancy; renewed belief. 

In a sentence: The ancients were sure the ring 

finger pointed to the heart. Hence, this never-ending

band – once made of leather, bone, ivory – has no 

region, no mythic stop or start, no legend small enough 

to capture the difference in a master’s and a servant’s call.