Sestina for a Vampire

My love, my quiet one, how softly now you dream!
Your pretty face by moonlight is as pale as stone.
I cannot help but smile. Here with you, I have peace.
O, love! It would have made you laugh, to see my dream last night.
You came to me, all darkness, your full lips red like blood,
And in my sleep you shunned the light, and clung to moon and shadow.

Sweet love! You were so beautiful in shadow!
Ah, but I know it must have been a dream.
Your laugh—so rich, so pure! You talked of chasing blood,
Of hunting under stars, and sleeping ‘neath your stone.
I wondered why I never saw you in the sun, until I saw you lusting after night:
With you, my love, it seemed that all the world should be at peace.

And yet, that time with you, I found no peace.
You came, all swift and silent, like a shadow.
I never felt more terror than I did that night--
I shudder even now, though it was but a dream.
My love! You touched my neck and whispered; your skin was cold as stone.
You said that if I loved you, I might warm you with my blood.

Such words! What monster was inside you, that you should want my blood?
In your eyes I saw stars, but found no peace.
I never before noticed how your teeth resembled sharpened stone.
What pain you gave me, love, for just that moment: then all the world became a shadow,
And though I did not sleep, it seemed as if I fell into a dream.
O, love, how lovely and how cruel you were on that dark night!

You offered me the world! You said that we could have the night!
You promised if we were together, it would not be so bad to hunt for blood.
Face flushed, eyes bright, it hardly seemed that you were just a dream.
You said that you’d found love; that I could bring you peace.
But love, your promise was of something dark: a shadow!
Although, for you, I could have spent my days beneath a stone.

How could I turn my back? Was my heart stone?
You seemed so joyful, languishing in night!
And yet, without the light I loved, you’d also have no shadow.
I did not understand your lust for blood,
And you saw, in my eyes, I’d have no peace.
This offer to join worlds was just your foolish dream.

My love, your face is pale as stone, but your pink lips are somehow shaded red as blood.
I thought that if I saw you in the night my mind would settle, my heart would find its peace.
O, love! Your world is still all shadows, and I know now last night was not a dream.