You Never Let Me Go

You never let me go. Alive,
You were the air breathed to survive;
Your soft clasp made me whole.
In death you were my talisman,
The guiding light that spurred me on;
Your sweet ghost fired my soul.

A shot, a bitter kiss farewell,
The cold fire of betrayal's hell -
And life's alignments change.
But still desire boils beneath,
Reined yet frenzied - just in reach;
Fulfilment out of range.

Now your sour phantom's beckoning cry
Calls me to follow, and so I
Come eagerly in tow;
Aware your touch bleeds me to death,
But needing you like drawing breath -
You'll never let me go.

-- Una M. McCormack