-
#114
Wall-flower,shut away,gave yourself to dreaming,the world,laid out before you,kindles naught but fearwithin your heart Wall-flower,shut away,deliverance,written in dreams uponthe wall and laid out before you,too, could be yours,if only you bring yourfear, bound in stringand laid out uponthe alter,a sacrifice,in the desertbefore the Lord
-
#113
Twice spoken,the polysyllabicherald of solitude,drives forththe silence Queen of hearts,having played your hand,fold yourself backinto the yourself Dream-weaverHaving played your hand,spill yourselfout into the silenceyou, spilled outdraw yourself backinto yourself,your thornssharp as the angledslivers of youraffection
-
#112
Pilgrimcalled out of bondagealong the perennial pathwayand into wild placesnot yet charted the tally menleft in bondageand thrice afflictedcount the everbloomingcircles beneath the glass,beneath their hands,mired in the silenceand not yet spokenfor
-
#111
Phoenix,falling,the orchid petalin decentcatches itself,the orchid petalcatching itself,rises, alongthe Celtic circle,before the spark of life,entwined parallelthe phoenix wing,at long last,born again
-
#110
Seascape,bespoken,concrete spiressprawlinghem inthe sky Joy-harvesterwinnowing joyfrom the desiccatedskein of fateyour inheritance,still-born,reaching upplays outbeyond your sightbeyond thesky
-
#109
Sequin-ring,dancing,the raindrops poolingfollow the rootof your finger,up the paper-facing wing,against the current,away from me, Sunlight,falling,the gathering dew spotson the leaves of the maple tree,reflect the ephemeral eternity,sharp as the tremoring echosof my affections,drawn out,along the rootof your finger,up the paper-facing wing,against the current,close to me
-
#108
Breath of Autumn,a sunlight baptism,amaranthine,in the fieldsand valleys of youreyes,turned up in laughter,In the face of ourthreadbare fortune,unburdened
-
#107 (revised)
Heat-haze clinging,the asphalt beneathyour feet,having run the length of Hell,buries the day orb-spinner,shadow-sung,our crescent-beaked masters,casting out their netsin greed,reel in that which wasonce our treasure,paid in full, andcastigated forit’s mercy You,having run the length of hell,strung up before the butchers,and castigated for your mercyyet retain your mercy,you,white-glovedin the corner of my page,anointed, asSamson before Dagon,lay…
-
106
Dawn-childdreaming,the sun-beams, falling,lay out your way first-born,yet unborn,you to whom we wouldgift the world,instead, stand toinherit naughtbut your father’ssin one day,as Jacob before you,may you find in yourselffaith enoughto seize your ironbreasted fortuneand make ofit an alter,in the desert,bowed down,before the Lord
-
105
Shrike-bowedbeckoned, the sunken bell ringingto you, was just another prayer, Dawn-child,waking,your copper-skinnedpatina, driven out,beyond the silken chambersof excess and into ruin,is, in the twilight,reborn,rapaciously
