Prey

We trotted through the ash of morning's cold
Where in the East the lung-soiled sun was spat
And dribbled down a butchered sky like fat
By yesterday's design not all grow old

I wish I could begin with fuller tones
But love shot one last cartridge from its gun
In goaded fire let the dawn be done
And dragged our furs before its famished throne

Summer and winter hold the same mark's lies
Something is screaming, baring chipped, grey teeth
Its hind limbs broken, trapped in iron grief
And snowfalls stake its passing deep inside

A carnal whim is diced on whetted will
The warmth of bled flesh melting on a spine
Prepared for others' feasts in better times
The hunters gathered, straining for their fill

And afterwards, in gristle and with bone
And all the wasted lights that writhe to rot
One wonders never how, or why, or what
The haruspex's auger sets on stone

Perhaps divining noble art in pain
Likewise to suffer hushed, a beast in place
I am, though, far beneath reflection's face
No longer human, if no less humane