maelstrom

i run around the edge 
  of your universe… 
bare feet ragged on your 
    razor's edge 
as i peer into the exquisite 
black hole of my reality 
   make your center 
     the center 
  of my attention 
my untamed affection… 

as we speak 
  i'm huddled in my unlit corner 
of the four corners 
  praying for a little light 
   some kind of guide 
in angel white 
  who'd hold her hand out to me 
    in my alabaster dream 
      lead me, need me, feed me 
at this humble eucharist… 

   let me rest my head 
   on your shoulder, darling 

    take a step back 
from the nuclear world 
  that threatens 
to contaminate me 
     and the things 
       that still, somehow, 
  remain ultimately pure 

   like my soul 
     and your soul 
    still infants in the whole 
prostitution of life 
   sacrificed 
 sanctify 
   my sacrifice 
these pristine waters i cry, 
that bead and drip 
  slip down into 
    this funnel 
      this uncharted 
        tunnel 
to pierce and pacify 
   the unblinking eye 
      of your infinite 
         all-consuming 
           maelstrom 

- jonah s fenn ca. 1997