morning after

"You're so good at being bad"
She declares with a sigh
"The best I've ever had"
It's her excuse to fly

A smile flits across my face
Steel gates up around my soul
As my ears perceive
The words I've heard
Only so many times before

Her fingers trace a lazy line
Down the path of no return
Flesh responds without a sign
Of distance or concern

It's well-oiled now
The farewell show
A well-worn litany
Those final thrusts
Of unbridled lusts
Quenched in apathy

She looks at me with loving eyes
Carefully fabricated webs of lies
As we speak our final farewells
From our well-masked private hells
A lingering fragrance remains
Nostalgia inked in little stains
Upon the tapestry of our lives
Smiling gates shut with open eyes
They watch on,
Grimly strong,
As inside
Love dies