That Smile

It’s still the smile From decades earlier The one that lit coral pearls That convinced the imperfective wrinkle lines below nostrils to stun Rubied lips doused in cherry ChapStik Framed by bronzed coils that never knew taming She stares up Into me As chemicals surge from neurotransmissions Cherub palms grasp at my cheeks Drawing me into succubi’s slavery Oxygen diminishes Seven hundred and forty six degrees of molten desire Passed back and forth between probing tongues Slipping out of self and tripping into us Years haze much of the rest The decades dim But it’s still the smile on those darkest days I cling