quartet: where is your shoemaker
your dressmaker where
is your coiffure
are you not a work of art/ the ball awaits
thus spake the rooster
(did you know him whence you came?)
he prognosticates he pontificates
worlds clutched in bony chicken foot
this or parallel world know thyself
do you know yourself there ||
|| parallel congruence
cogent || thus spake zarathustra
howtoever whomtoever which boundary
do you ply strange
osmosis of souls, nuclei bound inviolable
trio: dark breeze rolls on incoming tide
that is my daughter there, starlight and seashells
tangled in her teeth and eyes
brazen from emeralds and dragon teeth
a thousand sparrows for her soul
or thirty pieces of silver
which man betrayed her stand forward:
but you are all cowards
harlot’s touch
do you remember the scent of her skin?
wherewithor dost thou goest thou wanderest
the devil’s crossroads is our breakfast
he likes tea
he likes toast
he likes grits
he likes oats
he laughs at heroes as do we
duet: summon the golem he is my husband
married in march under canopy
glass cracked under our feet god’s
splendor
is here
god’s lotus feet
tendrils stretched to netherworlds
fortoever we clasp this thy hand the
marriage bond inviolable eternal boundless ethereal
risen from dead
you, my husband, are priaprastic, suplastic, agoraplastic
wherewithal thou goest god follows
we were once strong but now not
we were one proud but now shamed
my wedding gown exchanged for sackcloth
dust on my forehead and ashes
joy hides in hunger that prowls
solo: do you know this dark road?
it leads all ways
shimmering saints cross thresholds
miracles wrought and wondered
let me kiss you: touch my fingertips, angel please
watch us guard us, do we breathe?
the angel king watches my every breath
night watchman of eternity
he knoweth the hairs on thy head
the baby curled up battalions stand guard
eternal celestial battle ongoing ingoing
neverending netherending
there is a river you must cross, shush! I will tell you
the dark river beyond the pines
there stands a man who holds time in his hands
a staggering watch of gold and many dials
each tick of that watch is your heartbeat
each subdial your fate
bribe him with gold coins and kisses
offer him wine he cannot taste
but skeletons remember