artemis

tonight I stab the dark
with alcohol and cigarettes
each one's a dead soldier
laid to rest for you.
the frost is very fine,
and the smoke on my breath
hisses with every word.
all the matches you lit for me
are stubbed out,
buried in the ashtray.
there is a death's head
hiding under this cashmere
and he's looking at you.
I think your eyes are sad and wild
with a dull lust for desire
and the pink carnations which you pluck
they're growing in your hair.
the faces you seem to look on
are tired, as are you
and the smiles you wear
are faded and threadbare.
the speakers have no voices now
you've torn out all their throats
the politics they peddled
will reach your ears no more.
you're finished with men,
and how they've stopped evolving
from jaded beasts with appetites
that you never could sustain
to rockefellers and vanderbilts
who would gladly take your name
your world is writ in black
on pages few will ever see
and you know above all earthly things
what you'd have someone to be
artemis, you're done
you have no use
for lovers
anymore,
especially none
simple like me
stuttering when you look at me
with lost lonely brown eyes.
I could never match
the beauty of the nature
you've fallen in love with.
the earth is your only husband
and the sun that shines
on your beautiful bronze hair
like your hunter's helmet,
it's your lady-in-waiting.