In the beginning was the Abyss
I awakened soon after
A hero’s jewel clutched in my fist
My finger pointing, lips moving, but silent
The words would not come
I lit a candle and lamented
I worshipped my disillusion
as I would a martyred saint
By the light of the altar
I recognized no kindred
Solitary awareness
The dearest form of lunacy
It sharpens our vision
until we see a million planets
in a dewdrop
Light another candle
Did I offer my Faith to a stranger?
Was it stolen or freely given?
Like Cassandra
cursed with prophecy by Apollo
No one believes me
when I speak
of the destruction of Troy
I tell them I was ambushed
The cynics say I volunteered
I say the void bloomed within me
but I am only sure that I was there
and did not escape
The slippery petals
They closed in and swallowed
Later, I dipped the petals in honey
and offered them, pleading
Ask me, and I will tell you
there is something more than this
And the mind is a magic wand
bestowing spirits on every rock and tree
Light another candle.
This orbiting globe
of Faith and the Abyss
forever spinning, spinning
and desperate to learn
which hemisphere is real
Light another star
They are candles of an ancient altar
Would that I could snatch one for myself
Maybe, by its light, they could see
One night in my telescope
I find me once more
A sacristan of Martian Cydonia
reverently dusting The Face with my robe
after all of the pilgrims have gone
