Neptune's Concubine
Last night
The heavens caught fire.
Each planet and star
Was seduced by the treacherous Earth
And each in turn died in flame
Attempting to possess her.
From this destruction
Neptune alone was spared.
And he smothered us all
With an oblivion cape
All tied up in tide
And hung with mermaids.
Last night
I slept on a tall, sugary cake
That was being blown
This way and that
By the twentieth wind.
And I dreamed.
I dreamed
Of being rocked to sleep
By divine arms that smelled of rain.
And I dreamed
Of falling to the ground
And becoming the ocean's disciple.
Last night
I died and it felt familiar.
I smothered quietly in marzipan
And misty blue breaths that choked.
I sang a song of nautilus shells.
I learned a tale of universal law.
And all this time I lay still
Upon the back of the plum cake.
He held me as I wove a tapestry
Of hungry planets
And immortal assassins
He held me as I dreamed on.
Copyright © Shannon Hilson | Year Posted 2005
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