Scald
Susan Butler
Never having walked the earth before,
maybe I asked to be human.
In the dark the stars exhale vicious demons into a violent sky.
In the end we lose ourselves to this infinite fire-bright sea.
In what land am I digging my grave? In whose tongue do I beg to forget?
In the dark the stars breathe blooms of illusions into all the fresh souls.
In the end wonder is all I steal away from this world.
In whose waters am I drowning? Where do I go after this?
In whose time will I love you?
Maybe I asked to be human. Maybe I fell. Maybe I feel too ancient for this.
It must have been some crime or circus
to condemn me here.