6.) Follow the Sin-eater
7.) Grace
The sin-eater motions you to flight His eyes are dull in the sunken light An inverted sun that courts the night It draws the air into leaden space Leaving the moon that is his face Forever scanning that beautiful face Time relentless worn in his skin His dreams end where ours begin For he spends his days feasting on sin
Barefoot with a gentle poise your grace unfolds as you find your feet, sympathetic: upper body conducts to the beat, a melody creep across the sand as if an orchestra sat in three neat rows, beyond the waves an almighty band, tuba and timpani hitting the bass notes, trombones as the throats, flute like a discovery, trumpet and clarinet coming to blows, punctuated by the accents, piccolos in your hand movements, violins in your gait, and grace follows you where you walk.
The sin-eater beckons you to come His fingers long and his face glum Without meaning to you’ve begun To follow him on his awful course Through solemnity and blank remorse Cock your ear to his applause And hear yourself start to fall In the blackness hear him call In the blackness, hear his call The sin-eater asks you to commence His bones creak weary pestilence And you are now within his fence Absorbed forever into his heart The sins pour faster from the start Streams that tear your soul apart Streams that drown you in their flood And his eyes peer from beneath that hood Livid eyes that extinguish good Follow the sin-eater was released as part of a limited edition of poems entitled And They Spoke The Word, Ashafine in 2007.
Grace is from the 2006 exhibition Gratitude to Nature.