Burying the Carnival

I can't remember the path I took to this place
Ashes and soot blanket the ground
Brushing aside a layer a void gaping up is found

My feet slowly sink through the charred debris
Ignoring my discovery, I expect to meet solid stone
Four inches down and I halt

Pressure from below supports me
I know my destination, but I don't have the strength to let go

I wonder what fueled this inferno
Now reduced to base elements
From which all things came and went

A hermaphrodite god burnt on a stake
Fire started with self hate, awaken dorment cells
Meditated fall from grace

Howling Hermes a messanger
Dispersing charred seed far and wide
Twisted shrubs growing
To the direction of that which died

I inhale the dust
It burns my lungs and is exhaled as a red mist

Grit grinds against my teeth
They fall away as rocks to sand
My tongue traces shredded gums
Searching for words but they fled, long ago

Wind whips the dust into a whirling cylinder
My breath draws arms from the trunk
Legs seperate from the cyclone
I behold a gray limbed abomination
Grinning with a cavernous mouth
It names me father
A regressive gene from far down the line
Emerges in time to name me as mine

All lyrics by Rob Cook, Copyright 2003