For six long nights Pariah lay in bed
with naught for options to prepare escape;
was left to rot and suffer over wounds
inflicted on his counterpart by day.
Now on this seventh night he lies upon
the straw and watches beetles crawl across
the floor and slip between the bars to roam
outside his cage where truly doth it seem
the insects are a freer lot than he.
But still a fire burns inside his chest 10
whereas our Pilgrim's hath begun to fade;
with just one chance Pariah could remove
their body from the confines of this place,
and on this seventh night as steps approach
he catches sight of just the chance he needs
as Torturer appears before his cell
with manacles and chain to lead him by
and says unto Pariah these commands:
"Thou'rt summon'd to a session on this night
within the courtyard where we'll hold a test 20
where Warden will assess thy progress here
and then decide how onward we shall press
with thy conditioning by my stern hand,
which hath, in mine opinion, guided thee
with such efficiency that I believe
the Warden will be pleas'd with the avail
I serve to him in order t'expedite
the readiness of pris'ners such as thee,
who likely will be offer'd up to sell
much sooner than anticipated when 30
thou wert to us brought only week ago."
With that the Torturer unlocks his cage
with key that hangs upon a ring at hip
and beckons our Pariah to the door
with shackles held in order to encase
his wrists upon convening with the man,
but outcast dothn't plan to go with him
to see the Warden manacled in chains;
he makes his way with hands held out in front,
and when the distance closes twixt the men 40
he reaches lightning-fast for Torturer's
sheath'd dagger at his hip and draws the blade
and stabs it into Torturer's right side.
The Torturer then wraps his fingers round
Pariah's neck, and here his eye doth bulge
within its socket; still he stabs at him
YOU ARE READING
As Ever Like the Sun & Moon at War
PoetryA troubled Pilgrim sets upon a road in search by sun and storm of paradise; a vain Pariah's banish'd from his home to render justice by the moonlit night: two individuals who share a flesh, each unalike in methods and beliefs, yet fated consequence...