Death Of A Dream Poem by Chris Zachariou

You feed me slices
of Madeira cake
I roll you cigarettes
and pour us malt wine.

And when the cake and the wine
and the cigarettes are done
we go to the rocks and dance
to cicadas singing love songs.

Whirling round and round
you cast your veils to the wind
and you stand before me naked.

Spent and sated
we lie on the cliffs and mourn
our betrayed and broken dream.

Sixty seven
ravens swoop down from the sky;
they devourthe brown cicadas
and they chant a song of death.

The brave ones have fallen
and the rest have fled the scene.

We crawl into the cave and see
the shadows dancing on the walls
and the gates open
to a vision of our souls;
shivering and looking for a shelter.

You hold my hand
I hold your hand
we kiss one last time
and leaping into the abyss we cry
'an eagle for a moment'.