Orpheus

It's the way your words are melody
And your silences, siren songs, luring
Eurydice from the effigy she used to be--
Or else it's because she finds it reassuring
Your caress lingers-- and those fingers snake
Through her clothes, while those lips bite
Her lobes, and you make her thighs quake
With the ache of a venom she can't fight--

Or maybe it's the way you walk a bit too slow
When you don't know if she's watching, like you'll turn
Halfway back just to track if her eyes still follow
You, beat black and blue-- or whether they yearn
To return to the world that's been waiting beneath
Your apartment, police sirens, and her bridal wreath.
73