The Shadow of the Marvellous
... not to mention the shadow of the marvellous that no one has ever seen.
André Breton
In the street of towers plants wither between stones.
In the avenue of palaces statues move slowly.
In the house of denunciation ‘victims’ ply their trade.
Souls can be bought for very small sums.
All kinds of bodies can be hired, every hour on the hour.
Cries and sobs echo in the corridors
In this world of synthetic suffering and plastic pain.
Contrition is special in the shadow of the marvellous.
Submission is power in this dark temple of shame.
A hooded figure stands in a window,
Light dissolves traces of ancient crimes, forbidden histories.
A door opens into darkness - everyone trembles,
Everyone kneels as a hooded figure gestures a blessing,
A disjointed, incongruous benediction.
Time solidifies and forms crystal shapes, while,
In every alcove, every cell, prisoners are degraded.
In a high tower a princess burns, shuddering in the heat
As an aged crone strokes her hair and
Lines of force weave complex patterns of order and disorder.
The executioner wears a white cloak lined in red.
A penance is imposed - naked children chained to a golden wall.
A dispossessed priest spraycans abstract messages.
Lost for time the White Rabbit snaps polaroids
- instant images of frozen remorse,
While, levitating on all fours, a shaman with a moonscape
Face scrutinises his own skeleton. Crime shapes flesh.
Cardboard wings adorn a high totem, the world-axis,
Above the Acheron which overflows with poisoned foam,
Blue flames and evil thoughts like fire-flies.
Sculpted in steel, my resolve is all I have,
Hiding from the daylight, hiding from the future, waiting,
Knowing the Seven Sleepers walk at night,
In the street of towers, in the avenue of palaces,
In this house of denunciation, like ghosts
They utter plaintive cries -
- oh! My dissolution...how much longer?
Page(s) 76
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