The fire roars,
It crackles and spits
In the great hall of Temptation
I delve inside to drown my grief

The walls radiant,
The tapestry fresh painted
The carpets emanate warmth
A lure for all my senses

Feasts of fantasy
Atop the tables are lain
The smell of milk and honey
Much inviting to taste

But I dare venture no further
Lest I forget
The oaths I swore to Sorrow
Return with haunting regrets

So I turn away
In hastened retreat
**** all sweet desire
For love that cut so deep

-x-

The sky exploded red that evening
as the sun descended on the valley
and in the silhouette
I remember
the oil lamp lit up by her door

With cold winds and tired legs
I made it up the stony trail
and through the fatigue
I remember
her little hut puffing chimney smoke


A simple meal to fill me,
a fire to remedy the frost
and in the light of the flame
I remember
her eyes adorned with a desolate shine

Night fell soon after
stars danced in the naked sky
and as the moonlight kissed the peaks
I remember
her warm hands subtly grasping mine


On the morrow
we said our farewells
but as I started my descent
I remember
a sudden pang of insoluble woe

and I rushed back
the path of green and stone
with all the nerve I could muster
I remember
leaving a letter in a makeshift envelope


As often as I was entitled
I found myself back in the lone hamlet
as if to keep an unspoken vow, every time
I remember
her eyes of sadness, her smile of greeting

until the day we broke tradition
for there was no familiar face
where the trail ended
I remember
the cruel north wind cutting me open


A decade since,
of prayers to false gods in prodigal shrines
and with eyes shut
I remember
her hair billowing before the winter snow

In the monotony of city lights,
of skyscrapers and street neons
rising cigarette smoke up in the sky
I remember
the dance of the stars, the warmth of her hold


--

Every time
I dare go up the hill since
and gaze at the empty summit,
These memories seem to keep waning

So as I move across the highway this time
I remember
to forget the trail route to heaven.


-X-

-x-


You heard the man
He was telling a lie
But it felt harmless;
so you had let it fly


Into the web
of nameless, faceless arachnids
who chewed it up
and spewed out in typeset


With no recourse,
it spread across the threads
As they kept on spinning
their yarn of hate


It grew with ancient tales
of temples broken, villages burned
And threats of history repeating itself
unless all debate was adjourned


Till a house of cards it was no more -
but a fortress you couldn't move
For you had by then forgotten
what used to be the truth


-x-