lay down your arms at the foot of her bed
lay down your arms at the foot of great monuments to her war
where you have awoken amidst the ferns in that deathly hour

and let her strong masculine hands lead you to a place
where your fears are mounted on the blackest of stallions
driven by the most unholy of demons
and let her lay bear your chest
skin thick with scars from old attempts at immortality
scrape the meat to show the place where your weaknesses hide
shrouded in dry, cracked, velvet steel
stained from your acid tears that fall down your tired face

and as she whispers to you the alms of renewal
let your mind embrace the scent of her breath
and forget her lust
and forget the fear
and forget the death and regret that you have made part of you
release it through your flesh as each fragile layer comes peeling off like dead petals in the heat