I Take Your Name to Bed With Me
I
take your name to bed with me
And wear it like a skin
I flinch
beneath my hands and loathe my stain
I have resigned myself to
be
An icon of my sin
A useful, hated foil to your gain
I
memorize your mouth and eyes
Your posture, and your smile
I
etch them into shadows on my wall
I confiscate or overhear
The
whispered facts and lies
And ponder whether you, or He, will
fall
I
hoard your life and hang it on
The corner of my mind
I writhe
inside an altar to your health
I snatch your soul and all its
flash
And study in the dark
The wretched, weeping outrage of
its wealth