Little Death

Gothic Erotic Poetry

The veil was thin
as shred of lace.

His shadow wore
a lover’s face.

Fever crept along
her trembling thighs,
and slithered where
the darkness lay.

She drank the wine,
she took the curse—

and that was it—

the great unknown.

---

There stood a silent king of dirt.

Unwelcomed guest, the last to come.

A crown of limbs upon his skull.

“Who is this ghost who came to me?
What is this rusty ring I wear?
Why is my skin so pale and cold?”

His fingers traced her throat’s delight.
A pulse between them throbbed, then dulled.

---

He pulled her close.
His deathly kiss
pressed sweetly now,
against her lips.

She tasted white.

She felt his ice.

He drowned her lungs,
with wine she drank
that summer night.

He did not speak.

It spoke her dread.

“What does it matter, dove?
The fairest blossom leaves the stem.
The brightest flame still bows to ash.
The wildest river finds the sea.”

“Let me out!
Oh, let me out!”

She ached to shout,
but whispered “no”
and played her cards.

---

Poised upon the edge of dawn,
his ribcage opened like a gate,
to her naked, trembling chest.

She took his hand and welcomed him
in warmth between her thighs, so sweet.

He whispered, “Yield. The end is nigh.”

And for a breath, she thought him right.

But as his teeth drew near her hips
to claim the marrow of her sins,

she spoke a tongue
he couldn’t know.

The only tongue
that mattered now.

“Isn’t it worth it, little crow?
Even when it ends right now?
On that rainy summer night.
Isn’t a little love worth a little death?
Wouldn’t my sweet lips pay off
even the most dreadful debt?”

She tore the silk.

She crushed his bones.

In hollow eyes,
his grief was shown.

She laughed—
a low, rumbling sound.

Then straddled him,
and broke the back of night.

“Not yet,” he howled.

But she was gone.

To walk again beneath the sun.

She left him wanting.
She left him cold.

With nothing but
her scent to hold.

---

She lived her days,
but knew the price.

She kept her skin,
but lost her heart.

To death she’s promised.

When time is right,

she will return

inside his arms.