She Who Goes

I.
Long have I lain in wait for you,
my beautiful one.
Demons also have waited
Sucking with thin, tight lips
at the breath I gave you.
Even now, one sits at your head,
another at your feet,
a third on your belly,
thieves peering in through frosted windows.
I swear, they shall not have you.

Many years I have watched your
Blooming and declining,
my precious flower,
lovely and rare.

Now, you shall come with me
No one, not even the animals,
Nor your children and their demons,
Can follow us.
At last, you shall know me,
as I have long desired you to know me
crouching just out of view.
Your voice intoning my name,
in lament and celebration
pleading and praising
has been great comfort in my waiting
Only listen now, listen
to my summons.

My arm comes surely for you now,
as my heart leaps wildly in jealous anticipation
Behold, I escort you into my kingdom,
my banquet hall, my home
Go into the earth, and rest in me.

II.
Long have I remained with you,
fought with wild eyes to give you
my lungs, my heart, my liver, my veins
so that I might remain with you still

Now, you are going.
I cannot see where,
it is hidden, dark, airless.
Tell me, and I shall go too
With force past any gate

I must go with you
else who will protect
from lurking savagery
cruel beasts of torment
I am wasted with fighting
as you are wasted with living
Life I hardly know anymore
and will not when you are silent and still

Your breath is thin with pain
mine all too thick with loss
If you go,
my search will end only in
the same darkness into which you have gone.