Erotica/Possession

by Arthur Clark Kennedy

For works with similar titles, see Possession.

Possession

Around my neck her soft arms twine,My kisses fleck her bosom's snow,Her breath intoxicates like wine,And sends the blood's imperious flowMantling across my eyes; I knowAt last that she is wholly mine.

And I am hers. Each pulse of meBeats red rebellion, and each veinSwells with an overwhelming seaOf sad, glad, pleasurable painPervading every sense, my brainThrobs with a mad intensity.

Passing through realms of star and cloud,Scaling the mountains of the moon,My soul ascends, my body bowedO'er her fair form in seeming swoon,Unstrung by Love's almighty tune,Reels far below; sensations crowd

Upon sensations, like the wavesFollow waves shorewards, so they beatUpon my being; each one pavesThe way for its successor's feetTo follow faster, till with heatMade faint, they trip among the graves

Of former joys; confused they fallDead 'mid dead ashes scattered there.Earthbound once more, and stripped of allIllusions, through the breathless airMy soul sinks slowly back, awareOf waiting Sleep's incorporate pall.