Stella Maris

O lost and wrecked, how long ago,

Out of the drowned past, I know,

You come to call me, come to claim

My share of your delicious shame.

Child, I remember, and can tell

One night we loved each other well;

And one night's love, at least or most,

Is not so small a thing to boast.

You were adorable, and I

Adored you to infinity,

That nuptial night too briefly borne

To the oblivion of morn.

Oh, no oblivion! for I feel

Your lips deliriously steal

Along my neck, and fasten there;

I feel the perfume of your hair,

And your soft breast that heaves and dips,

Desiring my desirous lips,

And that ineffable delight

When souls turn bodies, and unite

In the intolerable, the whole

Rapture of the embodied soul.