you wake to find them covering your skin

silent

pungent

among the fantasies that envelop your dreams

opulent

sensual

life sustaining

                symbols

                        of

                           light

among

      the

          darkness

pregnant desires hidden among endless

enunciations

clinging

breast feeding from the marrow

of the truths you hide from yourself

in the joy you share

in the love you keep alive

clinging

to the tattered memories you refuse to abandon

to the hopes that power your waking hours

hitch-hikers along the highway

stowaways in your life travels

for without you

they are not

but stains upon your skin