Incubus Poem by Christine Natale

Ever since I was thirteen
I have watched for you.
I know, I have always known
No mortal man could ever do or give
Me what I have always wanted.

Sighing in the pale moon’s light,
My white nightgown fluttering
In the breeze,
By the open window waiting,
Waiting.

I called to you, across the night,
The stars whispered my longing
To each other -
You heard, you knew,
You always knew,
And were just waiting for me
To be ready;

Waiting until my desire had grown
Large enough to receive
Your power and your glory.
Then, one night, by the open window,
Among the trees you came -

Dark and shining with the glow
Of the love of hell
You came to me
And held me in your arms.
In a silence born of joy
And not of fear,
I received your will and surrendered
My own.

The seasons come and go -
You come with the fallen leaves
And silent snow.
You come in the spring
With a crown of flowers
That burn like none
From a simple garden.

You come in midsummer
And dance me into darkness
And overcome me
Again and again.

And though much time has passed
And to the world
I am growing old -
At midnight
Time unties itself
And I stand, clear and radiant
With no beauty lost.

And when my time has come,
To leave a world
I have long been weary of
And sick unto death of
Its stale smell and pale face,
I will fly into your arms
For a final time;
And you will carry me joyfully,
Ever young and burning,
Small and silent in my
White nightgown, down
To the gates of hell.