Death of Beauty

sunlight warm on naked flesh
pale blue sky, clouds, wispy
caressed by the breeze
like lovers hands, memories
of childhood days,
swimming naked in the river
innocent, almost sacred in its purity

sunlight slowly dies, the soft orange glow
fades into black night like smoke rising
air cools, the water that soothed now bites
and I know with the certainty of a man condemned
the dying rays of soft orange sun I watched disappear
were the last the world shall know

starlight sparkles against endless black horizons
but gradually the stars burn away, one by one

I watch the end of beauty as empty, endless black
devours the world,
knowing that the perfection of sunlight
warm on my skin
and that the teasing kiss of that gentle breeze
was the last farewell of a lover I'll never see again