The Exile

CHOSEN by the rope it’s a god I swallowed I know I know. Desire, you had the radiance of graves, you had the radiance of blades. Witness your exile, imprisoned in this life, seeking after the holiness of delight. I’m deep in the needleweeds of a dream, estranged even from my memories. Who will feed the beasts in the dregs of streets? Who will surrender to need? I’m a concubine of the shadows. CHOSEN by the rope it’s a god I swallowed I know I know. Ecstatic creation, I was chiseled by desire. In the darkness you named me. In the darkness you claimed me. In anguish I admit: I’m a disciple of desire. Genesis, the birth of a screaming being, genesis on my knees, I witnessed the infinite. Heir of Icarus witness your divine wings melting for desire, your fingertips at my reddened flesh, such a sublime fire, I witnessed the infinite. My bones rot like flowers abandoned at tombstones, I ransom my body to oblivion. With the fragile faith of a pilgrim, I arrive at your lips again. Adorn me beloved with desire. Forbidden fruits fall to my palms, it’s what I wanted. It’s a god of dissolution I swallowed I know I know. I chase after rapture. After all, nightfall in your arms—

I am beyond all mending. Eternity waits, restless to devour the offerings of our bodies. Oh, I would choose crucifixion by the golden noons over losing you. The exile! I receive the wind at my fingertips. Live not without me. God of the wilderness, do not diminish me. The sirens scream with remembered griefs. Nevertheless, eternity —