Beyond the stairs
Past the strands of raven hair and wind-worn curtains
The delicate war between love and hate
Is waged on battlefields scented with cordial

Borders change by day
As her succulent skin is caressed, and scratched
She grabs pillows against the soldier's soft attacks
And returns volleys of similar weaponry

Her eyes are fortified by a dream
As she walks through beauty and comes back again
Hands and teeth clenched, her beleaguered body gives way
To the serenity of a cease-fire love affair