Flames Against the Coming Dark

She looked down to their joining where he ended and she began.
His eyes watered at her kindness, this vessel of beauty
Spilling open without reservation or plea.
 
And so, he pressed into her heat, eyes wide with knowing,
That this dance of two hearts thrilled by their joining
Would one day fall silent, yielding to the passing of time.
 
These fleeting caresses and whispered prayers  
Would dissolve into the ether of forgetting,
As both suffer the finality of earth's embrace.
 
Yet, how luminous they were that night!
How their bodies spoke the language of light,
Each touch a verse, every sigh a chorus,
Singing the transient hymn of the living.
 
In the quiet sanctuary of that present,
They shimmered and writhed in defiance of death,  
Flames against the coming dark.