He placed years of waiting upon her cushioned breast,
Light with trust he laid heavy burdens to rest.
The tides of sleep smoothed the crags of his eyes and brow.
Flooding upon them, a tidal peaceful vow,
exchanged by silent caresses, between lovers.
Breath exhaled softly from hollowed caverns deep,
And whirled a draft upon her velvet flesh, a warming sweep.
This trembling breath, this flowing seep,
imbued that night a faithful fire.
Soundless steps, clothed within the shadow of the night,
Left the burning ember, still burning bright.
That glowing heart, that cherished delight,
untended, began to flourish and grow.
A passioned fire though hotly burning, left her cold,
consuming the vessel of which it could no longer hold.
That voracious beast began to unfold
scorching wounds to all that it touched.
Leaving a rapacious lust that hungerly fed upon
papery flesh, such as a moth to firelight is drawn,
and with sparks that ignite upon its wings
and ravages such delicate papery things
curls to ash and flies away.
Wildfire emblazed, with no control
seized all in its path to pay the toll:
Lone mountain oaks, brittle with drought.
Twisted sprigs of life, dry-sucked sapling sprouts.
Fields of thirsty, thorny, grasping weeds
Bone-cracked lakebeds of wind-lashed bellowing reeds
The nests of birds, the harbingers of spring
fauna, meadows, flowers, and streams
All lost
the night he let her go
and left a fire unattended to grow.