LA PETITE MORT

After it was over
You just had to shower.
I preferred
To linger
In the aftermath
Of intimacy
Just a little longer.
I tarried,
Enveloped,
By the musky smell of you;
With the pleasant stickiness
Of our union
Still on my skin
And the evidence
Of your maidenhood
Still on the sheets.
And so I drifted
Into the little death -
That dreamy paradise -
With the fragrance
Of your perfume
And the sweet smell
Of your body
Still there
On my bedclothes.
When you kissed me
I awoke to another paradise;
Of your soft clean skin;
And I held you
Tight again.