Now I Cry Without Tears

Now I cry without tears—
My clouds become the blood:
Lament the silence hears;
Invisible a wordless flood.

I dreamed thee by the seaside,
With our last twilight for thy guide
While I breathed in waves below
Helpless to watch thee go.

A farewell I could not make—
A promise thy heart would break
In this blood that drifts and rains,
Thundering o’er the barren planes,
Begging where the dying souls burn
If life to mine thou wouldst return.

There is a river, dear
Passing from the mortal sphere
In the dusk; the bejeweled glow
I watch the current slow—
In my dawn, I recall
Reaching enough to fall
And see thine emptied eyes
View my carcass where it lies
On the backs of the fallen souls
Who weep so the river rolls.

I reach for a lover’s hand,
But none ashore understand.
They can see the light
That brings the tortured away
They can see the light
But heed not what I say

O! Orisons!
Where each carcass lies,
Putrid rise to throneless skies.
Long ago some might rescue
The prayers locked to the dew
But on the grasses
The diamonds no longer shine
And as my body passes
The diamonds all are mine
From skies of a more innocent blue
That shone when my dreams were new
From the angels that flew
And smiles that align
From when my dreams were new.

Watch the candle of my breast
Build burning a crimson nest
Where the ghosts of birdsong that fades
Bears me to the silence of the shades
Who caress with torture sweeter than that love
Forbidden by the cruelty we praise above.

I hold in my hands
My heart alas entombed,
Tasting the clouded sand,
Pure gold once, now full bloomed
Into poison. I must feast
With all lovers deceased
In hope that against this sanctuary wall
But one tear finds the strength to fall.