like colette's cats
sensuous purring
rubbing up against her satin 
pillowcases
sprawling out on queen-
sized beds

i too love her
keep her photo standing
upright on my tigeroak bureau
keep a candle burning before it
in a most holy manner
of sweet regard

in the fragrance of rose
i slow dance naked
in my victorian bedroom
to the music,
"moonlight serenade"
on a 1920 victrola

in this world of loving men and women
i have lived between one world
and then another.   arms into arms,
tongues into tongues.

i want to live everyday
     in ecstacy
          firing through
               my nine lives
                    until there is nothing left.