And if I say
it’s alright
to love
another one
I will smile with
calm dignity shift
wince to wisdom grin
feign peace in your pleasure
reach back to pat
for a mind as open
as the wound in my chest
and I’m grasping
your fingers for blades
your swell and gaze
but I was pierced from within
caught dancing at the duel
between human and fancy
sang swords like mirrors
and every stroke gleams
with that dread reflection
as either victor would mean my murder
“I know you burn without malice, but burn as you must”
is the martyr’s regard of the fire
that even if it could pity
could not cease to be fire
I see devotion
is a creature
we can conjure but not keep
if its whim is in distance
And no hand red or black
can guide your desire
Passion as pilgrim
fervent and wanting
who must indulge each relic that passes
or risk some missing blessing
to pass up a sacred presence
on account of comfort
and in any case
not all sacraments taste the same
and I hear every saint
gets a temple
to see the worship return…
content will I be
that you whisper a prayer
at my shrine
aside the road