East

Incense dancing
Curlicues and arabesques.
The scent of coke fires and polish.

Grooves worn in the marble aisle.
Dusted with thread.
Time-rubbed sarcophagi are sentinels at the altar.

Footfalls jive in the eaves.
Diminished inside wool coat.
The blanket of holiness on frustrated shoulders.

Winter lives in every breath.
Speaking through the chill on lips.
The wretched stiffness of fingers.

Pale, stretched canvas faces.
Lips red like wax seals.
Cupped hands, wicker baskets.

Mother Superior makes weak tea and listens close.
This situation is just begging for lies.
Religious, but only in these churches.

Letter

I humble myself before you.
Cover my head.
Clutch my beads.

I ask for nothing.
It is improper.
If I did.

I would ask you to protect my brothers and sisters.
From themselves.
For all of us.

We have emotions and reason.
Small brains to combine them.
Wisdom, mudane or divine.

Is always in short supply.

Infinitum

The clashes.
Great rolls of thunder.
Vast nebulae of light and magic.
Smoking, flaming, plummeting.

The sky is at war.
Below, it is just weather.
Up here, chaos.
Immortal against immortal.

Traveling

Look into the light.
Feel myself go cold.
Helium beneath me.

Their warm, strong hands reaching down.
A friendly grip.
"Welcome."

I will miss you all.

Passage

The wind is cold and smoky.
Dropping from the clouds.
Through the rain.
Wings soaked and fatigued.
Seeking a newborn soul.
We've come to take you away.
Now don't be afraid.

HPP

Shred me with your talons
Drop my ashes in the sea
I can coalesce from nothing

The ubermensch has arrived
He lives with his parents
Warping time and matter

Reading the future in spilled milk
Cleaning the dishes
Arranging fries in multi-dimensional gateways

Piazza

A man lives inside my skin.
He's naked and taut.
Graceful and powerful.
Poised like a panther on the spring.

When he speaks, I feel like the block of marble before the masterpiece.
In need of sweat and hours.
The careful eyes of a master.

He lives there, waiting.
For an artist.
With the courage to carve.