I: Angel of Broken Stones
“So
heavy the burden I bring with me from the past,
I
doubt that I should make these vows for the future.”
– The Tale of Genji
I am the eater of days,
Father of the Indefinite
roads of Time,
Consuming hourglass moments
and sundial liquor.
As I let the ages run down a
throat
Dry with ancestors dust and
the heat of being,
I swallow sand and time,
Drinking dust
Drinking dust
Tasting in it steel and
blood,
Diamonds and lead-
Sweet sepulcher wine.
I bring a song of kings and
battles
Sung in the voice of the
outer world,
War and warriors all fall
forgotten, water upon the sand
While my wings beat
And stir the other side of
the light.
I am the arbiter of dreams,
Sender of the dark
sundrinkers
That sail through the cold,
impotent ashes
Left after the living fire of
the Childe of Night
Turned the men of dust into
the dust of men.
We seek the jewels of the
desert, the roses of the sand.
