The Sorcerer's Bequest
Constance Cooper


When fiery tongues lick these old books, what secrets they will taste--
A hot melange of conjury, with thaumaturgy laced!
Subtle scrolls well-seasoned with a sortilegious savor,
Compendia encrusted with a blackened-magic flavor!

The curries of the Orient, my friends, are blandest pabulum
Contrasted to the gusto of my tamest incunabulum.
A malign marinade has permeated every folio;
My codices of curses are all pungent with malvolio.

The relish of forbidden lore for me has never soured--
It's fitting that my spells should be so scorchingly devoured.
When I am gone, no mage will loot the treasure on my shelves;
I'm leaving it to you, my dears, to share amongst yourselves.

Beyond my death, there's one thing that I know you've always craved:
To eat the enchiridia by which you were enslaved.
Ah! Nothing's like the hunger of a demon as it dines
The crackle of consumption, and the sound of snapping spines!

This feast will make your faces glow and ember eyes blaze bright
Your breath will smoke with eagerness and searing appetite.
Alas, I won't be there to see your joyful burning looks,
When first your fiery tongues taste my delectable old books!

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Constance Cooper's fiction and poetry has appeared in Asimov's, Abyss & Apex, Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine, Mythic Delirium, Escape Pod, and the anthologies MYTHIC, Jabberwocky, and Best of the Rest. "The Sorcerer's Bequest," like much of the work of Monty Python, was thesaurus-inspired. Constance lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband, a little daughter who is learning to walk, and two cats (who are learning to run). Her website is www.constancecooper.com. Her favorite fruit is the avocado--looks like an alien egg, might taste like one too, who's to say?

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