Sear of shadow,
throat slit for liberty

I live in Ghost stays,
bones broken for providence

winding like blind shadows
we cast our gaze
& seek

withering hearts searing with
remembrance
____________

Rising from a golden seat,
blood casually
accumulating,
stubble rough
and telling

the moon
lays hidden in cloud

you came to me
as I come to you

in silence, without calling
____________

One after another
they bravely sit
in dirt & ash

to wander the
Earth no longer

shuffling skies
in the womb of a moment
so tragic, they bask

time held still
as a captive lion
____________

You held me so
near

as our breaths were one

and you held me
so tenderly

as into the mountains
I went, with nothing
but my shadow

you kissed me softly

as to bring death to
all days,

oblivion to a burdened heart,

an island rising
beneath the feet
of the drowning
_______________

Crying,
as the lily dies,
slow to wilt
the scent of life fades

rummaging
as mad pilgrims,
short on grain

melting as the sun
rises again, without
sleep

to make no
distinction
between ripe & unborn

to lay waste
the siege
on deathlessness
and triumph
_______________

2024 Pattern Hungry
Paris Elegy
by Neil Cain