Belief

These ashen bones burn eternal

Their baseless foundation shattered like so many shards of glass

Filled with roots that twist and turn

Always reaching

Yearning for the blush of life

But there are no temples here

No high or holy places

Only memory, and the religion of regret

Here the endless chambers flower

Like some nightmarish fractal

Building on tomorrow and breaking all the while

In the center sits a thorn bush

In that bush lies an altar

And at that altar is an offering of bread, and crimson water

Both tainted by the death of what we once believed

• • •

The world fell

I tore my hands trying to lift it

That was five years ago

My palms have not stopped bleeding since