Dreams

To startle me from sleep was your favorite trick.
You would stalk me as I dreamed.
What hurt me most was that I did not dream of you.
I was always afraid I would cry out his name,
Sending you away from me in needless pain.
My other lovers were only faceless phantoms
Wandering in my night.
You would not have understood
And I could not explain,
For to  speak of them would vanquish them.
Through no fault of yours,
I loved you chastely, purely, as you wished,
But I am what I am....
A shameless harlot in my fantasies,
Seeking pleasure in other arms,
Finding climactic excitement,
Bathed in the scent of faceless, eager men
Who take me in loveless urges,
Leaving me breathless and exhausted.

1992