Playing in the Last Con by Ramya Valipe (17, Texas)

My black fallen angels stumbled towards the captivating golden liquid that you had poured.
The night turned into months as I followed your deceiving voice.
And you knew that too, which buttons to press for me to unravel for you.
Eden was tantalizingly in view, begging me to claw through my Asphodel fields.
Who said we both couldn't be racing to see how far your con of forever would escort our souls?

---

My blackest days became veined with your golden rays, a trance you had perfected for me.
The time we spent was a magical place, where I was the joker playing at queen.
And you knew that too, how to get me to the precipice just to sink into your embrace.
Eden became a place that I could visit in your eyes, no longer was I encircled by Asphodel fields.
Who said we both couldn't be racing to see how far your con of forever would escort our souls?

My blackened trail soon faded by, and no longer could I see a golden soul.
The road you had me follow seemed too true, a North Star in a sky of blue.
And you knew that too, turned my eyes from coffee to rose so I couldn't tell when your fingerprints left scarlet prints.
Eden dropped to reveal the trees, and I had kept my bed made in the Asphodel fields.
Who said we both couldn't be racing to see how far your con of forever would escort our souls?

My golden vision then turned on you, prepared to cleanse itself of the blackened filth that was your chosen cloth.
The moment we met should have been my clue, that two lies and a truth was the favored hand you'd play.
Eden was supposed to clutch me till you commanded it to go, but I finally saw that all that stared back were Asphodel fields.
And you knew that too, so you drugged me deep with the minuscule pieces that you tossed at me.
Who said we both couldn't be racing to see how far your con of forever would escort our souls?

My golden heart then decided to beat a new rhyme, reasoned that your blackest presence had stayed past its time.
The screams and tears might make a perfect storm, but I finally knew it was only a façade you chose.
And you knew that too, so your finish line became drawn and we both started sprinting there.
Eden was shoved from your eyes to reveal that I had taken us both to the Asphodel fields.
Who said we both couldn't be racing to see how far your con of forever would escort our souls?

My golden shower then speared through your honeyed, black lips, intended only to knock your crown.
The stalemate was the prize at the end, but its taste to me was a win so sweet as all I was expecting was a bitter defeat.
And you knew that too, had to force your vicious heart on the battlefield to have a white flag waved.
Eden was a lie meant to tear up my past, but my motions resulted in a new soul for the Asphodel fields.
Who said we both couldn't be racing to see how far your con of forever would escort our souls?
So, for the aftertaste of ash that your nectar words kept, I will thank you completely for the role I played in your last con.



Premise and Symbolism: This poem was created to share the story of a girl in depression who meets a man at a bar one night. Through his smooth talking and pieces of information that he gives her, he makes her fall in love with him. Later, she finds out that he is a con man and has been using her as the subject of his con. She then decides that instead of losing his game, she is going to make sure that he loses and does not care how she fares at the end of it. When she beats him at his game and he eventually loses, she feels a new power in her life and thanks him for the lessons that this gave her. The symbols of Eden and Asphodel Fields are used to represent the narrator’s position throughout the poem. Eden is the Garden of God in Christianity and is supposed to represent paradise for the main character in the poem. Asphodel Fields are a part of the ancient Greek underworld where the souls have lost their identity and live in a state of true neutrality for eternity. ​