the marshes and the moons

the minuscule minutiae that make up moments

walking the path speaking a language of love

the ruined cities

the former glories

nineveh out in the desert

ah leave it alone man

you can never go back

my sister on the battlements framed against the temple n ziggurats

wake up one day n youre someone else

land through my fingers

the gardens all neglected

my angular faces all distorted in death

we reach for our gods our feeble voices lingering unheard

prayer after prayer

decade on decade

minute by minute

my sister in the mirror unadorned and fresh

interminable war

the shouts the blood the pain

miraculous escape

another day has ended

trumpets drums and pianos

creamy music surges around the stars

same old stars now as then

the planets revolve in a sky

vulcan juno apollo diana

my sister tends to her husbands wounds

blood gurgles from a winged genius

thoth-amon astride the cosmos

boy emperor giggles cruelly

a wolf by my side

the iron age rusts in a museum

locusts gathering as a darkness

anxiety betrays us

an energy hurling itself around

king on queen

prints on a scrim

a new disease cuts down the people like a strike

the doctors the first to flee

my sister among those missing at the assembly

the horses were thirsty miles ago

i feign enthusiasm

night divided by evening

thunder rolls from the hills

gravity pulling at the corners of my mouth

feel the super chill of flash fear

your village swept away before the new warlord

increasing pressure from the east

greed betrays us

the blow is absolutely painless

stagger away howling

the witch queen strokes her familiar a white jackal

houses of magnificent wealth burn unnoticed

my sister at the window calls me home

the drink sears my throat

truncated expedition returns empty handed

i remember now what i will say

something about my sister

nothing will ever be the same