long have the god botherers strung
like paper dolls around its altar
drawing us into their gravity well
where not one tittle or callous jot
shall suffer a shred of dignity
so mosaic law shall e’er hold sway

then let us choose who we are today
as they freeze themselves to all change
where heavens become another hell
of much vaunted imprecations
& love decaying in final solutions
from the pallid fists of the raptured dead

but unlike they, we can lift our heads
ne’er to be alone in this
let us feel snow on our tongues again
let the contours of sensation stay
for this is how we reclaim the day
afore the erasure of all souls

voiceless remnant, we braved the coals
where weight to the dreams once had
died in those embers to be born again
we were failed by shared geometry
but here is where we hearken shall stand
as tho’ we were always more than this

with all we shall ne’er learn to kiss
with all we shall ne’er learn to say
with all we shall ne’er learn to be
we still must remain somehow free
rooted in trust ’til the end of things
to find a more empathetic way

& the contours of sensation say
today is the day, for we be hungry
are we not allowed our dignity
for to brush away all tyranny
for to learn what it means for all to be
for to sup life now when tomorrow we’re gone