Lines for a Private Celebration

This iron bed on which we lie,
heavy as magnets, eye to eye
and pole to pole, is world enough
for you and me to prove our love.
Let every move we make become
a play of forces, but the sum
of push-and-pull remain unchanged;
and let the odds be so arranged
that should the strength of one abate
the other’s strength will compensate.

What if, my lady, all our lust
decay in time, as iron must?
Beyond the half-life of this night
no after-life looms half as bright —
So charged with high felicity,
like static electricity
that leaps between us at a glance,
our thoughts like iron filings dance
and, rampant on the star-struck air,
define the timeless field we share.