Verlaine Afterwards
Allow my dizzy head to loll against
Your chest. Your kisses ringing like a bell,
Because they are the last, are love condensed.
Those kisses are as lovely as the knell
Of wedding chimes for grooms who do not know
Tomorrow. Let me drowse in peace beside
Exhausted ribs and hear the gasping flow
Of breathing as your nipples spread out wide
In lost fulfilment and permit my ear
To press against the thumping of your heart
Imprisoned in that breast with casket tear
That cannot find its way to do its part.
..Permit me utter love as we both fall
….Together in an alexandrine drawl.