She wore her lips in perfect shades
of red and sin
and stood there in dreams
of crushed black velvet and lust
and had him tied down
with soft silk pink ribbons of love and desire
and he his heart beat hard against his chest
and she slide her hand between his ribs
and plucked it out
and held it between their mouths
and asked in a hushed whisper
of words that hung
from the stars of a prayer

“What is this for...  
if not to dream...
if not to live...
if not to love?”

and she smiled wearily and weakly
and then placed his heart in his hand
and said to him

“see... it’s still warm...
still alive...
you are not dead....
not beyond hope...”

and with the sound of wind and wings
she was gone
and the soft velvet dream
faded to cold dark black
and he was alone
with his heart in his hand
still beating
still warm
and he put it in his mouth
and swallowed it
along with his pride and his shame
and closed his eyes
ready for the pain and the tears
that would be waiting for him
as death is inevitably in life
so is waking from dreams
and his time with dream
was now at an end