Meticulous Edge

There’s an abrupt serenity when one falls off a meticulous
edge with a little piece of incredulous earth
still held in bear-like claws, having slept
too long
in that deathless cave
where only the brightness
hunkers down
outside
and
the hunger awakens the
quest within...

it is here
the journey begins
— to reach the summit
— to ascend the fall,
the blinking eye
is seldom seen when
the back is turned against
the wall, Mother
it’s all breaking apart,
you see
shattered mirror’s image —
empty of a sustaining rage of
God and fire,
neither accommodating
your hero’s solo performance
nor your shaman’s bloodless ritual,
unwilling to wear that faceless mask,

and the passage is a rippling effect
in the deep-water vision of
a Pan-like Narcissus,
crippled with perfection,
dripping with insight.
unable to let go...