If only I could
always have you
by my side..
to take you with me
so that we may
ride together.. off into
the crimson sunset..
as the credits roll..
a-La Bonnie and Clyde!

Alas, a life of crime
is not a good fit
for a lady,
fair and delicate,
like you..
and that is why
in silence
of a dimly moonlit
night..
in your sweet dreams
is when I visit you.

Though they may
catch me
in the act of my
surrender
to this manliest
of follies..
I don’t care.
I’d rather die
than leave
before I breathe
your scent
for just one final
time..
it is my sweetest
air.

Before I bury
this forlorn
and weary
face of mine
in thy fine
bosom..
right before I take
a deep inhale..
before I know it,
I’m alive again.

But by the time you wake..
I’m gone.
And all that’s left of me
is merely
but a cloudy memory..
a dreamy trace
of sweetest love
you ever felt.

Except there also
is a tiny box..
with an engraving
of a rose upon it
by your bedside..
try though you may,
you cannot seem
to open it..
and then you wake
again.