I stand to fall -
no helping hand to guide.
Love was wrought
to decay in me.
Jaded darts to open
my wounds again,
pouring forth into a cup.

Raised to the lips
of a lover's sinning mouth,
she takes what I
did not give.
Iron and salt -
grimace -
cold smiles that tell
of plots and plans.

I fall upon the floor -
no one to guide.
Memories cloak my being
and become my deathbed.
The snake rattles inside my chest,
threatening to strike,
but it cannot be helped.

Malevolent power
staring upon me, black.
iridescent blue to stare
and stare forevermore
at her radiant beauty
loosed upon the world.

blood upon white cloth -
white and red;
innocent and evil -
wiped away from my
lover's mouth.
Upon her knees
she kneels
to bestow a parting kiss
tainted with memories.

The snake warns to strike
the heart
and my heart,
to end what was begun.
So shall it be.
Tainted blood
from her lips,
my heart explodes
with life,
but the memories will live on.