Tender

[darewreck]

I knew you once
In a dream
masquerading as a memory;
we danced this brilliant night
into oblivion.
I was surefooted,
hinting at ocean currents
fishing for strays,
snapping at blackflies
around your halo.
And you,
with your sweet, mythomane smile,
lead us through Orion's Belt
with promises of time and space
bending to your will.

Who are we to command the heavens,
I called.
It was only then,
that you answered
with Einsteinian authority,
I command this heaven,
and all who enter here,
who dance this serpent slick,
starway.
Dance with me to oblivion,
and only then will you meet,
The Keeper.

But I lacked the courage of Dante,
and so I embraced Eliot,
shook from him the secrets of salt,
sulphur and the strawmen,
to keep the blackflies at bay.
There I dreamt a memory,
of perdition:
DO NOT abandon all hope,
ye who enter here,
for hope is the last refuge of the defeated.
Strengthen your walls and build anew,
Pandemonium awaits.

Resigned to my resolve,
I let the celestial currents take us,
listening to the ebb,
and flow of your blood.
This Keeper I shall seek,
For She is the Ultima Thule;
I am the meager and meek.