I Raised My Hand to Scarlet

I raised my hand to scarlet
Fleeting though as love can be
I took you like a poet does-
All in memory

And when the purple hour
Tumbles in the sky
I raise my hand to scarlet
And let the blood run dry

Until my heart is cooling
And flame has left my breath
The yellow in my fortitude
Courts the hand of death

When the dark encumbrance
Bathes me in its blues
I raise my hand to scarlet
And standing so accused-

I fumble in the darkness
The blackness all around
The scarlet has forsaken
And in the loss I drown.