I ride within ruffled white wings of a dove
Over barren black plains
Into burnt copper canyons
And down through a river of fire
Where dreams turn to ashes
In scarletted bursts
And only the brave
Or the lucky
Or those who are chosen
Survive
Plummeting down into depths unforeseen
Beyond I imagine and
Blazing suffocation
Overcome, trial by, and into what if
Where separation of soul is
Impending
And all that is left to forsake
She gives me safe harbor
This creature of kindness
As if I’d been pardoned, granted extension
Secret Service of the gods
As if I deserved her protection
And on the ascent
At the moment of surface
When thieving inferno retreats in defeat
And breath is once again prone
I look down to see the remains of perfection
Now scorched at the fringes
Charred to the tips
Yet blissfully, painfully pure in the center
Spared in the form where I lay
And I know she has saved me
Though barely and vainly
From certain death and karmic enslavement
Delaying for now what must be in the end
Postponing the merciless inevitable
As if I’d been pardoned, granted extension
As if I deserved her protection