To Pay The Cost Poem by Eric Cockrell

shall thy heart then remain infusable?

while spiders count bodies

in spun glistening webs,
on nuclear mornings in astral glory...
as the rogue butterfly fellates,
the flower bloomed out of season...
without need for recitation!
nebulous vultures march in severed cadence,
wearing boots sewn of human flesh...
leaving tiny fractures in the soul of god,
be it history or destiny!

you cry for wars in dread of silence,
justice hangs from sterile trees.
the hungry child's eyes blacken the moon,
gravity devours temporary sanity.
the hammered flute burns tainted lips,
leaving crows to take the spoils.
the lost blown by mongrel winds,
the faceless fill the dark....
the faceless fill the dark!

oh god, let this not be!
take this cup from the table.
blow not your brassy trumpets,
roll back the furious cannons.
i curse this night that never ends...
take these bones strewn by shackled mouths,
build nests for disembodied spirits...
and bury the tears of orris and mold,
in the blackened moss womb of desire.

touch me! i do not quiver!
i wear neither mask nor cloak of guile.
i plow deep and with abandon,
i drink till the cup is spillt!
i dare defy, i dare proclaim,
and identify the heart...
if you must sacrifice to liberate,
what is shall not be lost...
i dare to pay the cost...

do you dare to pay the cost?