I live in luminescent candlelight,
   To whisper on the edges of your brain;
I roam in velvet shadows, cloaked in night,
   Or float within an ancient, odd refrain.

I visit the incurably insane,
   Who in my presence do not shake with fright;
For they have nought to lose, and less to gain --
   I live in luminescent candlelight.

In poets and musicians I delight,
   For always in their heads they hear the strain
Of ghostly music, stirring second sight --
   To whisper on the edges of your brain.

Beneath your satin bedsheets I have lain,
   As restlessly you toss from left to right;
You close and bar your windows all in vain --
   I roam in velvet shadows, cloaked in night.

Your wild imaginations I excite,
   And weave forbidden pleasure from your pain.
To you I sing your sad, forsaken plight,
   Or float within an ancient, odd refrain;

And when at last a frigid, winter rain
   Falls down and you must pull your wrappings tight,
I ride in silence on the midnight train,
   And you are free of me; but never quite --
I live.