Poem: 'THEFTED FROM CLARK ASHTON SMITH'

SOJOURN AMONG 

THE PERFUME-EATERS/ 

THEFTED FROM CLARK ASHTON SMITH

in the oblique glow of beryl and topaz casements,
in the mauve and crimson gloom of heavy-fold tapestries,
on a floor of marvellous mosaic wrought in ancient cycles,
my lover comes to greet me languid with dreams,
yet she is fairer than exhaled memory
and paler than a blossom of the catacombs,
exquisitely frail yet voluptuously proud
her hair of lunar gold frames nocturnal skin
with eyes that are pierced by fluctuating stars
circled by the dark pearls of dreamless sleep,
beauty, love and sadness are her exotic perfume,
come, I will take you away, we will flee together
dwell among the sepulchres and ruins
where none can ever find us
where love and ecstasy will bloom
beneath the shade of scarlet flowers
and we will meet the everlasting night
in each other’s arms…