Catacomb

shaking her chains

the slave girl dances beneath the city

in the catacombs she walks

and sings to the departed dead

I have watched you these long years

as you wrestled in the night

with your own heart,

as you saw your dreams be harvested

and your spirit shackled

to lie out on an altar for the gods

I dream of you

lying abandoned in my arms

lips and lids and limbs slackened

in the oblivion of desire

but freedom from yourself

is only in my gift

for a little while

for one hour,

one enduring moment of soft flesh

abandon your will and follow me

into the places where the dead are lying

where the light enters and departs

where the song of your blood grows louder

and I see your heart at last