after so much pain
you said you’d be
my talisman
my lucky penny silver eye
my sacred hand of God
dangling from a chain
to prevent mischance
you said you’d christen me
with secret names
so death would never find me
you said you’d call me back
from troubled dreams
to the familiar hollows of your body
the tangled refuge of your perfumed hair

and so you were
and so you did

(Originally published in Far Enough East)