Beloved

Don't sleep--
Before the mist
Enfolded his ship
Your fingers were not so limp.
Shivering joy
In your glass,
Eternal grace
In your veins,
Runs clear and sweet and
Older than the monstrous sea.
Don't sleep--
Your lusty youth
Forms colorless pools,
Wells up from your skin--
Sweating and cold
Like a stone,
Hollow and aged
Like a shell.
Don't wash away.
I will bathe your face
And dress your eyes with dew--
And he will brush your cheek.
We will watch when
Your honeyed breath,
Imperishable,
Shivers
And begins again.