these faulty eyes do watch and see

the filthy world of you and me

they gaze upon half formed idols

that twist and meld into fear and life

we, everlastingly

unsatisfied with nature as it sits

still yap at the remnants of babylonian gardens

but now

we strip off religious skins

and walk bare as night into twilight hours

the pinks of days gone and memories to come

dance on the laurel’s fertile petals

still we focus on the prophetic spat

from our throat rather than the eternal breeze

drifting through our hair

and yet

we step on the indifferent tail

of earth’s loyal bitch

until blood runs warm between

our toes and our wounds

longing for the embrace of

the immortal divine that whispers curses

and poems over the deafening roar of dawn

though today

we knit scarves of nature’s sinew

and wrap each end around a shoulder

these strings that tear and tug

and make splinters of our spines

only act to remind us that

artemis weaves these blinding curtains

which separate us from the ravens

and now
we burn

the facade of hierarchy

between lord, you, and dazzling mortals

red smoke rises from blackened bodies

of gods that once held dominion

breathe in the subtle ecstasy

to the tarred lungs we swear

help keep us sane

until the

satyrs and nymphs intervene

and stamp out the physis’ ashes

with the scent hanging on each finger

we sicken at the thought of sacrifice

yet little changes

when silvanus spreads his cancerous seed

underneath our nails

far away

the horae weep in chains

made of marrow and lost time

pulling at their cuffs

scabs crest and fall at the hands of brothers

stuck in our diurnal rhythm

we release the season’s wrath

only to imprison it again ere selene’s retreat

henceforth we

collect aegis’ lonely fragments

and pray the clouds clear fast

before the rain washes away

the prints of man and god alike

living in parasitic harmony

we forgive the sins of past

and suckle on gaea’s vile bosom