[dead man]

I


stared at the water.. watched it ripple and roll
surface shimmering like gemstone fields ascending the cove
some treasure is golden. nickel-plate possessions to own
all i crave is utter silence for a minute or so
the doorway showed itself within the bark of a tree
so i stripped the nearest branch and started carving a key
seen that it was all a dream and started from scratch
walking faster. watching cloud formations mark me a path
to where the world was thinner. where the portals were guarded
by phantoms of the faraway. long forced into darkness
watched a man die and put a torch to his carcass
as it burned i felt a bitter sense of mortal catharsis
folklore as knowledge for fanatics who invest in distraction
there's everything to witness but far less to be captured
there's character in action and persona in speech
home of the reaper. ghost of a preacher, soul of a beast
nobody moves, nobody's saved. nobody leaves
we're rotary, wheel spokes who serve the flow of the beams
smell the disease. that old aroma. aromatic, it breathes
you don't have to understand. i'd rather have you believe


†