near gardens tall and winding,
whilst i savoured aphotic tea.


appeared that harrowing boy,
stygian herald bringing destiny.


inside, aside! i cried, i cried,
but none there heard my call.


my path was laid out, though four-fold
it was, before i fell the fall


then awakened from my forty-winks,
to a realm so alien and queer.


and O! the p-pain of my forearm,
known only by my good man Lear.


understand, under i stood!
beneath the sky of a shadow land.


brobdingnag could not compare,
nor calormen in the sand.


time and a time and a time again,
i periled through this epic place.


met mighty men and kings of old,
and stuck leviathan in 'er face!


o weary soul, tired tired tis true.
yet to the end did i hold fast.


til i'd learn't that humble shall be first,
and the first shall inded be last.

The last time it rained
I stepped outside into the grey air
And I caught some lightning in a jar
Like a violent firefly.
And I held it up against the sky
With its cold light and its diamond rain
And I felt the hum through the pads of my fingers
And thumping in my chest
And I realized that I am alive
For good or ill,
For better or worse,
I am electric.
I am the thrum of a storm in the air like music.
For all that I have lost,
For all my pointless love,
I am vividly alive.

So I pried up the lid.

I'd rather torch my soul, and burn like a falling star, than forget to miss you for even a moment.
It's a dancing flame that tells stories on the walls.
It's a forest fire that razes a thousand miles to ash.
I't s a cozy hearth in the middle of a snowy winter night.
It's a funeral pyre, a last goodbye scattered on the wind.
Oh, and I am alive, I am full of joy,
And I will BURN until I can't hold it,
Spin into fire like a supernova.
I won't be quenched by any tears.
They feed me and I grow.
I am the sun, and it has hurt me to be so bright.
I will consume everything I touch-
All the knowledge and wonder I can reach, I will have,
Oh love, I am hungry to live!
You've made me so vast, so white hot like an ember.
Down in the core of me, I am the kind of heat that is unendurable.
I am a hot day in the desert, destruction and beauty,
A mirage out of shimmering mist, out of light itself.
I am the smallest candle floating lonely on the coldest sea,
And I am the rising sun scorching the world awake.
I am the kind of blaze that cleanses, like a burning needle.
I am the boiling beneath the sea where the earth reaches for us from the inside.
I am light, glancing off every molecule, painting the world beautiful and agonizing.
Molten gold, liquid and scintillating, I am so full of fire.
I will never be cold again for having known you, my darling.

You pass me everyday
Not a glance not a hey
I see your smile
And your laugh
Sometimes I swear your daft
I'm not a stranger
I'm not an outcast
I once was yours
But alas that is no more

As our tea simmers
and out thoughts wander
the whispers of friendship
wrap around like steam
memories are made,
time has no means
when our tea simmers
for you and me