All I Needed Poem by Denise Antoni

Sometimes it is enough. Let ancient wreathes
Adorn the last casket of my heart. Your eyes
Fade. Soon, too soon, Love breathes
His last upon me; a feint, cadent, surprised.

Let me adorn the last casket of your heart. Your eyes
Stroke my veined lids closed. You coin your rites,
At last, upon me. The faint cadence, reprised.
Cries of our lost children's broken nights

Stroke my vain lids closed. Coin your last rites,
Your epitaphs. Eulogise, as you must, the innocence
Lost upon us, the no-longer children. Broken nights
Are reprisals for blood-shot public pretences,

Epitaphs to our eulogies of token innocence,
Our mythologies. Others must now drink
The reprisals. Their blood-red public pretensions,
Their processions, are precursors at the brink

Of your abyss. Let others now drink
At the cool petal of your skin. All I needed
Was possession. Pre-cursed, at the brink,
I name the loss. As token that you were here, I breathe.

Oh. The cool metal of your skin. All my needing
Unsheathed, I gasp through double-edged swords of air
Your name. Token that you were here, bleeding.
Now, unspoken for, I sleep. Anywhere

Unsheathed. Gasping through edgy swords of air
In public spaces. Lost, wasted. Out of time,
Unspoken to, silently asleep. Anywhere
Becomes a resting place, everywhere a shrine.

Now the public faces are gone. Wasted. Those times
Lie beyond my clouded heart. I begin to recollect
Your breathing spaces. My own derelict shrines
Decay. But you are not done with me yet. You do not yet

Unbind or unshroud my heart. Let me recollect.
Sometimes it is enough. Let ancient wreathes
Decay. You are not done yet. You do not yet
Fade so soon, too soon. Love breathes……..