Erebus: Darkness
by Krista Canterbury Adams
I have seen him enter the moonlight,
have seen him calm the holy breath & restore
the quiet life to that from which
breath & life had lain departed. In shadows innumerable
I have been penetrated by him, burning
in the places he rests his fingers,
giving the white body—a sacrifice—
to the bone-fire,
becoming black ash,
becoming ruined dark.
Even in the places where I shelter,
lighting the red-glassed candles,
even there
I come upon him—a heaving darkness,
wild & primordial,
though he stands still as a mirror
among the mossy, wet stones.
And there, I dread him suddenly,
even while lowering
to my knees.
He tears me alive.
Savaging my spirit,
I feel his long hands everywhere, reaching toward
the red heart grown venomous.
Like raging flames
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