Ear to the ground
I listen
To the whisper of your coming
Barefoot
Soul-treading
Towards the serpent's mouth
Herald of destinies
Unspoken wishes
Trailing by the hem of your cloak
I cup my hands
And call
To the children of my fears
I do not know how long I stood there
In the mouth of the cave
Fearing
The mist beyond held more than ghosts
Clinging spectres cold with ill-use and ill-advised expectations
I echoed against the stalactites
Knashing they rehearsed
No roar or strum
Or clap
Laughing endlessly
A thousand days and nights
you slew me Scheherazade
A thousand pages
stole my soul
Scheherazade
Lost in gardens of your making
Your breath against my earlobe
chained me fast in moonless skies
A thousand dreams
in your grasp not waking
I died the last
Scheherazade
Grok imagines
From these articles I press
against my chest and furrows of my mind
I draw the oil of our enlightening
Terpene rich they flash with light
Then float away
Trailing smudges across my soul while they spread
the dour perfume of funeral and futility