Leviæthan – The Vessel (pt.2)

Leviæthan

I
‘neath the grim pallor of a Plutonian moon,
Sheltered in the cloak of Phantom’s embrace,
A tempest rages within flesh— entombed
Ash and soot caress expressionless face

II
Deep into that fire peering,
Long she stood there pondering, hearing
Voices, distant, —haunting, searing
’round a pyre—
Shackled bodies, writhe and hiss

Blackened pillars, —listing, turning,
Seize the souls upon them, burning
Faces, obscene, —enticing, stirring,
A sweet longing like unrequited kiss

O’ What vile pageantry! —provoking,
Her weary flesh into approaching
Weary flesh, —engaged, encroaching
Shorn of tattered garb and ragged stitch

—
Light and shadow blissfully dancing,
Upon her flesh— tends the mind to drift
Wolves hone in, —circling, incanting
Pounce upon prey and bind it swift

III
Lo! The horror of her plot unfolding,
Lashed to the pyre; To this madness beholden
Her wail a dirge, —reshaping, remolding,
Their chant with a hex through fervent lips

A darkest machination set in motion,
Soon…
“Soon, I shall be,” hoarsely spoken
A hushed mantra into crescendo growing
The throng, strident! —quake like shaking fists

The earth shudders! Parts beneath their feet—
A chasmic yawn of indeterminate deep
Vengeance interred—on the precipice of sleep—
Awakens!
Through arms outstretched, a wind howls and whips

“So, I Shall Be! Reborn! Unbroken!
Take This Flesh And Bone —As A Token!
Payment! An Oath With These Words Spoken!”
Echoing through the endless Abyss

Shadow and flame, —coiling, rising,
Kisses flesh, —unburnt, undying,
Her voice, shrill! —harrowing, climbing,
Shatters the firmament with perfect pitch

Down!—
Down rain the heavens upon the wicked —squealing,
Whose sloughing facades, —smoking, peeling,
Reveal faces, familiar, —cruel, deceiving
Raze and ruin by one decried, “Witch!”

—
Within the veiled darkness sempiternal,
Souls, like dying stars, ignite The Black
Falling embers till bloom inferno,
Long she gazed into the Abyss
—And it smiled back

IV
Through a mirror darkly, her mind unbroken;
Phantom bestows a Faustian gift
Laid to rest—
No epitaph, no words spoken
Upon her brow, placed a gentle kiss