And with its eternal fragility
splendorous sensitivity
life remains clasped in my hands
gently but firmly
kept guarded and true
from all cruelties, all slights
anything an evil world can brew

In the whispers of earliest morning
and the scurrying tones of nightfall
my mind lies open, vulnerable
like dark flowers cusping spring

With probing eyes, full and brown
I see that which I can realize
yet not realizing what must be seen
that which lies beyond my ocular reach

And with utmost effort, sinking innards
I toil with feelings buried inwards
dissected and magnified
preserved and studied under the light

“Come not between the Dragon and his wrath”
-King Lear, Act 1

Caught in the nooks of his imagination,
stood the devil in the daylight
sweet as venom
and with no ego at the altar

Ace up his sleeves,
tattered now as they were
grimly grinning from ear to ear
flashing eyes that drill through sinners

To those it concerned, he commanded

Come forth,
in singular order or all at once
leap into my cavernous maw
and be rendered unto ash
at the sheer conviction,
the utter totality,
and the complete radiance
that shall engulf you

“In his fist, the righteous sword is raised...and all that is wicked, he will tread beneath his feet”

I came, I saw
I shall not be conquered
Opulence and luxury are minor distractions
There is no time for stardust relationships
No need for the jangle of change in my pocket

We are not owed by any twist of destiny
Fate’s fingers crawl across those years
I swat them away in disgust
My teeth sank so eagerly into a simpler life
I was home, my skin stopped burning

Now what do I have?
All those comforts have been stripped from me
Regardless, I could not kneel
With every step taken, I tore
Concrete convictions warned they might crack

This life will smother your resolve
It will ****** smiles and muddy your heart
but I will be ****** if it makes me yield
Destroying every single doubt
Slaying insecurities with impunity

I am certainly not some exemplar
but I will still dig my nails into the filth
scrape my toes against the brick
I will climb out of this slick well
Whatever it takes
Whatever the cost

and may all the demons lie unknown
and all the beasts roam untamed
so that the Earth may swallow them whole
at the halting of time, the end of days

In this life or the next,
nothing is promised
In those moral lapses,
we must seize expiation
In our web of bleak moments,
we learn that diamonds are not forever
In one hand, I held my doubts
In the other, my regrets
and I declared the daunting vow
that I would break them just the same