• Stone Angel in Repose •
from The Decay of the Angel, 1987
Saw you lying there,
Proclaimed as King in your domain;
Wrapped in painted cloth
In the shadowed gloom of the lair.
Your voice whispered of
Biography and phantasy –
Even in its muted state
Setting my awareness on edge,
Readying me for the coming combat.
If you had uttered one word
Against me, then your facade
Would have been slashed to ribbons
In defence of reason.
I have never feared you.
Only been wary of the wheels
It is in your power
To set in motion: the machinations
Of persecution.
In your guise as Grand Inquisitor
I have been tortured by your ambiguity,
Condemned by your righteousness,
Tried and convicted by your ignorance.
And if mine is the hand of justice
Would I dispense pain, reap the bloody
Harvest of your alleged virginity,
Lap the violence of your uncut blade?
That you think me capable of such crimes
Is wound enough.
No. It is not in my nature to destroy
The animal I love:
Though the pure denial of my kind
Of loving damns you to a final fall
The twisted beauty of your body
Is grace enough to save you,
Stone angel in repose.
(for Simon)