i can let him go now

he will no longer haunt me

and he called me to him some nights ago

did to me what he had done before

it felt good as it had before

and when he was done with that secret part of me

he pulled me to him

and we slept

and he was gentle as he had not been before

or perhaps only once

and there was only the two of us

in his dark, sunken room

no voices, nor ghosts

other than our own

he saw me, felt me, loved me, knew me

and in the following daylight, i reached out to him

and he did not respond to me

so, now i can let go his sorcery

his breath and body and beauty

render it all nothing more or less

than sweet, ruinous memory

*title quote borrowed from michelle boisseau