a shooting star

a flashing sword

a nibbled ear

a young man in a torpedo at dawn

preparing to die

his letter to his parents written

he nibbles the memory one last time

of the soft skin behind his sweetheart's ears,

shivers at how she trembled under his tongue

when she gave herself

the night of their unknown marriage,

then hits the switch,

like a man who has fully lived,

rigid with impossible passion,

he shouts Banzai

holds her face dissolving

and shoots forward to meet his death.