Velvet Sky
Poem
A new moon glistened
And as we listened
We could hear the virgins cry
The gods were baying for their blood
Up in the velvet sky
The goat and the bull and lion alike
Sat to watch the siblings fight
Ninlib from his salty eyes
Saw the devils spirit rise
And far across the land
In another place
A boy sat upon a cliff
With tears upon his face
And the clouds darkened
Or so it was told
And the earth turned black
And young girls got old
No one saw him as he fell
Did he jump?
No-one could tell.
The wind screamed
And the eagles turned their heads
The siblings stopped their fight
To witness the sight
As the mouth of the sea
Bared its rocky teeth
And swallowed the boy inside
The gods awoke with dampened cheeks
From flustered and unsettled sleep
Too late! one cried
The boy is dead!
But tho’ they ran to edge of sea
They could not find any trace
Of the boys with the tears upon his face
And the new moon glistened
And as we listened
We could hear the virgins cry
The gods were baying for their blood
Up in the velvet sky.
more by EMMA ROBERTS
photograph by John Goode
