blood drinks slow the light
like a leech too bloated to move
the skylights flicker on off in a daze
they kept this very contained space
a small stage
a small woman
five years
a few plants
light is a drug
I danced around it for a long time
and even wicked in tight against the center
a rogue planet
a visiting madman
a technical leper
fresh meat
so we can say, yes, partly it was Saturn
Satan with his scythe
waiting for the right time to cut
but he serves something higher
however drugged the blood
however cramped the stage
however beautiful the actress
cyclopean maze
alien eye
stumbling feet
years of worship
nightmares blinking on and off like fluorescents
they serve this higher force
turning over them an immense weight
the machine fastened invisibly onto your body
so that you can feel it in your teeth
when it rises
the magnetic orb of the higher dimensions
what worth is the truth bled out
fitted into the cavities of the homeless madmen of the world
vomiting black truths into the microphone
and the failed actors and artists
playing the part of ritual sacrifice
that drug light
or you the drug for it
summons the will like the sea summons the coastline
tugging it into spirals
and you float
judgment is like that, floating
while you wait to assess the punishment
it’s no judge in high kingdom
robed in white and bearded
but you
embedded tight as a tick in the warpweave
blood death and taxes
smeared sticky over your face
finding the syllables to utter
the sound of command
Saint Michael stands with utter calm over the serpent
before slitting its throat
in every depiction
not one flicker of rage
because light is pouring through his body
almost no emotion left