at dawn first peering beneath

a shed, bulbous head with tongue

tasting air.

a rustle in the leaves, then a hiss

for writhing body

has to make a guess –

of sounds of nature consumed

by birds making noise,

a cacophony of fluttering wings

drowning out alarms raised

and the warning uttered

gets lost with wild predictions.

a shriek in the air comes

piercing fogged thoughts distilled

in semi-permeable membranes

getting past iron gates no

longer locked

talons dig into the mind of unseen

bodies collapsing

with a thud – could be anything

when a slide sends off

adrenaline ready for battle

or to hurry back

to warm cozy hideouts covered

with thistles and thorns.

scrapes the skin, slices an artery

then flash backs come about

with awareness intact

of pain welling into flesh –

from talons of the mind while

the thorn pricks deeper. that another

tumble came about, of losing control

from panic attacks now

blinding.

wails in the sky, rustles all about now

with the forest keen, the scent of

blood brings about a frenzy

from predators

no longer wanting to sit on the fence

undecided while birds of the air

swoop, dive into foliage dense,

with hisses coming from

an inert head quite the opposite

of that anxious fellow

despised.

opens wide jaws as the devil

drinks from preys

believing themselves ready

for a fresh kill

slurping away, tongue tasting heaven

and it was all those flapping gums

saying everything

quite the opposite of how they really felt.

it wasn’t too hard to guess –

the writhing bodies enmeshed,

with thistles and thorns penetrating

illusions brought out as idols

plain in the sky of flapping wings

towards an orange bleary red eye

atlas whose shoulders have been

broken from too many endless chase

as atlas crumbled down

with a thud. it could be anything

goes when a god falls but

broken dreams become another hope

like sitting on a fence, not falling off

to break one’s back. and hearts reshape

the withering forest, reshape the

cacophony of predators rushing to ruins.

slurp, ingest, digest: and the embryonic

fluid coagulated, became hard like stone,

life without a heart while

a lush forest remained awake, for the believers

to come once again

to make their offerings.