Unto Ashes

Sonnet Macabre

Unto Ashes


I love you for the grief that lurks within 
Your languid spirit, and because you wear 
Corruption with a vague and childish air, 
And with your beauty know the depths of sin; 
Because shame cuts you and holds you like a gin, 
And virtue dies in you slain by despair, 
Since evil has you tangled in its snare 
And triumphs on the soul good cannot win. 
I love you since you know remorse and tears, 
And in your troubled loveliness appears 
The spot of ancient crimes that writhe and hiss 

I love you for your hands that calm and bless, 
The perfume of your sad and slow caress, 
The avid poison of your subtle kiss.