Cast A Mere Apocalypse

The griffin descendedThrowing its lionheft across hundreds of milesWagering its eaglescreech against our warsong, soundwave shatteringOur will       my will       please my lord, surrenderMy calciform rattled before each griffin clawTearing the soil, it rent The Name TreeIt resolved and mine was broken

Bodies are suspended by ancient forcesA person holds the universe at shankpoint: “Bend, that I should exist”We are only bodies now, scorched, bloated

The Name Tree plumed and plummetingSplintered past the battlegrounds I rememberA prayer streaming out of meIf I die before I drown, I’ll not have bent the kneeI saw the blazing mushroom, now I’m glad I cannot seeIt sought the final root in each face—They are only bodies now I layWasted by my kindred     in my homes     my fibrous remainsDusting the nation

Every particle    of us shadowed on the ruinsEvery body waterlogged, still mourned in the halls

Red forms wrestle oblivion on the flagsOblivion is white and righteousAnd red flashes against itOn the unpeopled flagsGloves tearing the flagsPolyester talons tearing

m y f i b r o u s r e m a i n s

No one imagines the griffin’s mass while it traces K-N-E-E-LIn the clouds      majestic     lazy

My branded eyelidsAnother cloud I do not forgetThe griffin’s horrorI clench the throaty universe: “I lived      the terrible griffin      I live”