I Take Your Name to Bed With Me

I take your name to bed with me
And wear it like a skin
I flinch beneath my hands and loathe my stain
I have resigned myself to be
An icon of my sin
A useful, hated foil to your gain

I memorize your mouth and eyes
Your posture, and your smile
I etch them into shadows on my wall
I confiscate or overhear
The whispered facts and lies
And ponder whether you, or He, will fall

I hoard your life and hang it on
The corner of my mind
I writhe inside an altar to your health
I snatch your soul and all its flash
And study in the dark
The wretched, weeping outrage of its wealth