light comes slanting through the trees
shafts of gold, flown from afar
drawing my feet to the gap - peering
through
the canvas of grass unfolds
touching the edge of the world.
dark fronds crowd the sky.
Squatting in the heat-haze,
a castle, baked brown,
watches with milky eyes
upon the highest stack of dirt
- a scaled beast
drags its belly over some bare patch
and slithers out of sight.
plump, glistening clusters
droop from verdant cradles,
smeared across the children's faces
tumbling, fumbling
amongst the dusky roses
Laughter echoes over chirp
and creak.
crowning the spires
the molten orb sinks
fanned with supple, shivering limbs
I follow the paved path
past the silent house
and squint as the horizon
peels into the burgundy sea.
Faint, a breath
stirs
the distant garb of stoic boughs
shrouded in deepening gloom
shrinking from the glaze
that pours over the shore,
coating my skin,
I hear the cries
torn from lips, others or mine
rising with the fall,
creased with horror
straining to reach the budding
stars
and shake them from their rounds
The great eye crawls to its bed of embers;
blinded sand cools
as waves snort over the strand
darkness descends,
robbing shells of their gleam
strangling the flicker
that snaps at my ankles.