This funeral pall, this gauze upon your eyes
is linen-thin and so weightless I could see your breath
were you talking or given to the faintest of sighs,
but you are breathless, my love, and this thin gauze is as thick as Death
which dwells ever on the other side of all things,
farther away than Tomorrow, and even farther than Yesterday,
no nearer than Caesar, Pharaoh, Khan, or the countless kings
that have also passed through the pall for an eternal stay.
So white this gauze, and so black the gaze
searching through this night to find my soul
ready for barter, for trade, this silence but a moon phase
while my demons clamber in the puncture hole.
They say I am to watch over you so no oni might come,
but why would such creatures gnaw you when they have sweeter fare
in this yet-beating breast , the only one in this nocturnal kingdom
of carrion and crypts and many an unanswered prayer?
Come, demons, come ghouls, partake of this ripe chest
for it may bleed more freely than the mummified dead
so silent and still beneath their thin shrouds, each blest
with the silence on the other side of our world: oblivion’s stagnant bed.
So thin that pall that separates from the other side!
My love, my life, my silent, breathless bride!
Stephen Marshall. Writer, illustrator, layabout. Find him on Amazon, maybe. He has paperback and kindle books listed there. He seems to have a knack for the Romance genre, much to his chagrin. Having pursued Children's literature he is particularly proud of his Children's novel series "Lost And Found", which begins with "Chloe Among The Clover", continues recently with "Stormy Within The Strawberry Patch" and may, in some future potentiality, culminate with "Candice Through The Picket Fence". These are novels for children (including his insistent nephew), but they are also written for adults who are children at heart. His short story collection, "The Eldritch Diaries", centers primarily upon Cosmic Horror and Body Horror, combining Lovecraft's mythos with the motifs of Sigmund Freud. His largest poetry collection, "Broken Crown Kings", contains over two hundred poems and two short novellas concerning the fleeting nature of the world and Man's place within it. Recently he has published a smaller book of poetry concerning Kentucky, Moonshine, and Ghosts called "Moonshine And Spirit Chasers". A much larger collection, entitled '"Nevermore" 99 Rhymes For $0.99' is also available. For those seeking supernatural and folklore, his collection "Weeping Cherry" is available also. The copy in print features original watercolor illustrations.
https://www.amazon.com/Stephen-Marshall/e/B07536QKD9?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_fkmrnull_1&qid=1554215427&sr=8-1-fkmrnull
View all posts by tanglerootblog
Tangleroot And Tressknot 