Song of Sacrifice

My heart, pierced

My breathing, shallow

My blood, pouring

hardening, cooling

on the

trampled grass

The gates of

an iron underworld

yawned wide for me,

a cremating maw of

mocking damnation

You came from

unseen shadows,

dressed in black

with flowers

wreathed and woven,

white against

the sable strands

of your glory

And when the fiery demon came,

flaming axe in hand

to claim his unholy inheritance

You sang

a note so sweet,

he flinched

at its beauty

Of care so far reaching,

it stopped him

in his tracks

Of friendship so lasting,

his fire died

Of desire so strong,

it burned him

Of two souls so

tightly bound,

he dropped his weapon

Of bodies so entwined,

he fell

to his knees

Of love so unending.

he

vanished

Sacrificing your song

to the fire,

I am restored,

but your voice,

now lost,

is but the

hollow soughing

of hot winds

across the silted surfaces

of cooling suns

of long-forgotten

gods

© Alfred W. Smith Jr.  2015