Along the Tomb
It's in the tomb
of what was, what is
and what has been
I see you there
a lurid image
that draws me in
I burnt a candle for you
and lighted the incense
your image beckoned me
from the flame and smoke
it coalesced along the tomb
you said there is violence
in words that I speak
I left you ther
and where were you
when I walked away
I didn't hear the echo
your footsteps went
the other way
I made an altar to you
when you weren't there
you're never there
I offered a sacrifice
so that you may come
my flesh, my body, my soul
I control the abyss
when it suits me to
you reject domination
command, master, regulation
you leave me with contusions
so that I writhe in pain
contorted into an abstract
of what I once was
and the image fades,
distorts until it's almost sub-real.
Robin Coe is a journalist and author. She wrote the fantasy novel "Fly on the Wall" and graphic novel "Illustrated Book of Wrath".