And as they marched home,
Hollow from the victory of war
Only those who returned were welcomed,
Despite desperate eyes searching
For one more face
And reluctant ears intent
On not hearing another name on that list,
That long, long list.

Day by day my demons slide
Into a lake, so deep and wide
But some wouldn't see but a sea at least,
While others see oceans of evil beneath,

The turbulent depths turn, with time and tide
To come and go, and to no man abide;
But inner workings, ticking dear,
Casting them forth, or bringing them near,
All played to the tune of a tone deaf ear,
Which went never hearing my pitiful fear

The bitter rain came flying
Dropping like icy marbles,
Freezing my bones, the wind
Stung my knuckles with lightning,
Shards of glass scraping past
my tender face, torn pink
Like blood mixed with snow
And ice, this bitter day

Remember to put the pins
Back in the pin cushion
After you put all the pieces back together,
Don't drop them!
You wouldn't wish to step
On someone else's leftover pins,
Or pins you left over from fixing
Someone else.

Each day she posed naked
As he continued to paint
Engrossed in the picture
She was twenty to his fifty
But his age never upset her
In truth, she was falling for him

He never attempted to ****** her
As if he ignored her body
Maybe she was not beautiful enough
She knew he lived all alone
He never shared his home
If he asked, she would be his

She tried to show temptation
Wanting him to notice her
No matter how much she showed
The curves of her body
He would just keep painting
As if he never noticed her there

On the last day she could take no more
"Am I not beautiful in your eyes
Can you tell I desire you
I would do anything you ask
If it be only for one night
I am yours if you want me"

"You are young and beautiful
Your beauty will be seen forever
In this painting, In your honour
But I loved so very long ago
I lost her to Mistress Death
My heart belongs to her, always"

I notice how eyes,
So easily drawn in quick, uncaring lines
Are always attracted to the light
And always adjust to the dark,
But refuse to look
at the brightest suns,
Or the deepest shadows

Each earnest and every chosen
Nit-picked word ready
To carefully clasp cautious ears
And carve out a particular path
This persuasion, both cruel and great
To bend a mind and heart ,
And push it down your choice of fate,
Entrance, enthrall, enhance, abate,
Convince you, and sell you
And a signed, written, and binding
contract controlling you, make

Hello, my darkness,
I found you at last.
I stifled the blinding lights,
And delight in your soft kiss,
Your velvet cloak pooling in the corners,
And the soft silk touch of the moon
Glowing silver behind your eyelids,
And your fathomless depths
Bleed like ink, and I breathe you In like smoke,
out like water from the abyss.
You surround me with your touch,
you fill me, even as we cut delicate missteps
In the sweet, swaying, firey silence
For I am as mystified with your cool secrets,
As you lay entranced with my light.