The philosophy of clerics — with Adagio

I’ve sampled nocturnal resilience
I’ve slept on speculation; dreamt of what may have settled my shroud
that rich layer of skin
that seeps a sea of gratitude
like a fearless watering of clout
alongshore,
between frayed ends of variance
and the tendrils of substance
Beneath the guttural moans of persistence
from the vendors of eloquence
I’ve lulled my conviction to be sipped like brandy
from perspective’s glass
and poise my spoken lip in ironclad verdict
The philosophy of clerics
in broken ink of the pen's poetic chastity
of the slow burn of the candle's heretics  
whispering behind a veil of obscurity
chained to winds of gathering storms