Embers

Once crackling and consuming,
Sweetness, light, mirth of mind,
Curtains of carbon enveloping,
Beloved and loved intertwined,
Their bodies and spirits burning
Euphoria so willingly made blind,
And open.

Soon crackles quiet in warm whispers,
And warm safety soothes the bones,
The blazing calms to soft dangers,
All aglow in warmth and earth-tones,
Deepening bonds unite the dancers,
Swaying in warm breezes unknown,
Now deepen.

The crackles diminish into a hiss,
A coldness impinges past the flame,
Limbs fold away from tender kiss,
Each in t'ward solitary frames,
Warmth — a tide — recedes the bliss,
That was once sweetly proclaimed,
Now cheapened,

As embers bleed their heat and light,
L'amour recedes to places far,
Death dying death — day and night,
Once aflame, now cooled to char,
Crimson coals crumble ashen white,
And drift on morning breeze afar,
Unshapen.