A week is pass'd on foot before they come
upon a town in which to rest their legs
in rented room above the only bar—
whose hanging sign depicts an archer's bow
with arrow nock'd and drawn and tipp'd with white
as though it's pierc'd a demon's flesh and dried—
within this tiny village built from wood
that comes through here whilst on its way toward
the city in the pass at th'range's edge,
thus benefiting from the chain of trade. 10
And in this rented room above the bar,
awakening from in our Pilgrim's head
and slipping out of bed and down the stairs
t'emerge to midnight air, Pariah breathes
again to stalk the streets between the huts,
inlaid with stones and gravel in the dirt
that crunch beneath his ev'ry cautious step.
He roams the twisting arteries of town
and notes th'humility with which these homes
are built; such little huts despite that they're 20
a priv'leged lot who're able like t'afford
to build much larger structures if desir'd,
and greater monuments to boast their ways,
like temples to their faith heretical
or monoliths of dominating art.
But none of this is present here to see;
it seems to him they understand and thank
the grander situation which conveys
to them a wealth they otherwise could not
behold, secluded by the mountain range, 30
but still within the desert's barren land,
and so remain a modest, happy few.
However, our protagonist believes,
as humble as this village seems to be,
Pariah's well aware of canc'rous rots
that village folk can hide behind their doors,
so when his ears perceive an extra crunch
produc'd by something other than his step's
descent upon the earth this faint-lit night,
he spins with gleaming knife withdrawn from sheath 40
to fend away attackers baring teeth
they've filed sharp to fangs inside their mouths,
who snarl as they leap with blades of stone
and make t'impale him through jugular.
But agile outcast steps aside to dodge
and thrusts his knife below the ribs of one
who only growls with greater anger at
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...