Flagellation

Pleasure in painDesire of mortificationTo achieve the extremeTo know the ultimateTo be a slave for a momentThe body offered up to crueltyTo the lash which whips on the skinWhich slashes the flesh, lacerates the backTo feel the blood, thick and warmFlow over my woundsFlagellation...To thrust aside the limitsTo say "Yes" to deathWithout fear, without remorseTo give up oneself to torturePunishment and rewardThe whip is ambiguousIt distills viceIn a perverse refinementTo be a slave for a momentThe body offered up to crueltyTo the lash which whips on the skinWhich slashes the flesh, lacerates the back