Where is the mercy I was promised?

You ask shout wail.

From whom should this come?

The emperor will not respond.

He’s taken up the search for his clothes,

A task that will lead him to strange lands.

He’ll learn that we are all naked regardless.

The various deities are likewise occupied.

They squabble over which

Is the almighty is the true is the only.

One day they’ll pause in amazement,

Seeing that each is a mirror image of the other, all.

They too stand stripped and bare.

Better then to tell your plight to a bird on a wire.

They’ll bestow upon you the benison of song

Catch your despair in their beak take wing into the sky

Drop it amongst the wisps of clouds then fly away.

You stare in wonder at the bands of color on the horizon

And begin your day with lighter heart.

Thus.

Death balances on the tip of my finger

Spinning and whirling in a macabre dance

Suddenly stopping the motion to appear as a spider

Spindly-legged redly-eyed attention fixed in a mortal stare

Slowly one limb lifts almost as if to point

I hold my trembling breath unsure uncertain uneasy

Distracted by a sudden noise turning my gaze

Then look back to find only a smear of gray ash

Still I ask myself you and all dire arachnids

Is now the time is now the time is now the time

The time is always now the time is always the time is

I walk down the shaded trail

And gather in my hands the strands of sunlight

That filter through the tangled branches of the trees.

I weave them into garlands and fling them into the air.

They land on passersby, the human, animal, and even avian.

Eyes glow briefly in unknowing wonder,

As they are gently draped in unseen light.

I smile to myself then stumble on a rock.

The rustle of leaves and the warble of birds

Follow me as I fall.