Wagers of the Dead

This picture is entitled "Demon Within".

Wagers of the Dead

She slips between the sheets
of the dead.

Hung with the draperies
of mansions in disrepair,
she carries the moon
on a silver curtain rod,
opening herself when the
sun trips over
the horizon and
falls into her lap.

Pale breasts and red lips
give the illusion of pink flesh
when she's shaken hard enough
and her face blurs
into the background
of carved mahogany
and old canvas.

Warm breath on a
cold night intoxicates
the demons in angry men
who wager her like
ancient currency
in games of chance;

and though divine writ
states souls cannot be bought,
they most surely may be won
and lost.