Storm clouds converge on the New Jerusalem
Rain falls in colours, hiding the blood-stained sun
Purple lightning dances a ballet of destruction
ripping neutrinos from within our atomic soul
Beams of radiance explode from the head of Moses
His gun points downward, trying to kill the earth
A blackened forest of charred trees form a circle
to chant the rhyme of Nostradamus
The Reaper collects tolls on the East River bridge
while Loki cuts the anchor, setting Jacob’s ladder adrift
The corner of the attic is bare,
cleansed of holocaust victims who once hid there
The first begotten of Shadows are named Alpha and Omega
Excalibur rests in the dust of a pawnshop window while
ancient Merchants and a Minotaur barter for the sword
The Musketeer has two heads, each loyal to different king
A chivalrous knight tilts his lance towards a mechanical bull
In a distant kingdom, three princes burn nine candles
beneath the sepulcher of Orion
In the Iron Temple that was built in Vulcan’s forge,
the Lamb opens the seventh seal
Lo, the archangel Michael leads a golden horse,
casting the Dragon from the heavens
The last brown grizzly bear conducts an orchestra of blue
Ladies in Waiting spin a tapestry of the sky
and demons fight over the corpse of the Phoenician poet
A bouquet of flowers surrounds the face of a clown
as he watches a tear fall from the eye of Horus
Five thousand kisses betray the Last Prophet
An Elysian field yields a dark harvest of forbidden thought
Monsoon storms cannot wash the earth clean
Lucifer surveys the city of his dreams
while God peaks over the horizon
A promise is taken from my soul
by a winged Concubine of the Dead
I engrave a tombstone with the name “Higgs Boson”
for I am the Dark Matter that fills the space between
Trapped in this illusion,
I climb the only remaining Ziggurat
and pray for an awakening,
but the light of Mithras grows dim
If I could only but close my third eye . . .
A cell phone buzzes
the truth was calling
but all it got was voicemail
It left no message
Norman Cristofoli has published several chapbooks of poetry/prose plus two audio compilations of his spoken word performances. He was the publisher of the “Labour of Love” literary magazine for 25 years and was the co-founder and manager of the “Coffeehouse” artist networking site. His full length collection "Relinquishing the Past" is available through CanamBooks. His play “The Pub” was published in June 2020, also with CanamBooks.
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