Ferried ‘cross and beckoned over
Stuck with pricking pin
A standing army stood behind me
With accompanying din

The murky sea gave forth her last
And then to me came rushing fast
For pulled away the rigid mast
That tore her from within

Upon that spit, where tides occlude
And lap the shiv’ring land
Frantically I looked for you
Whilst trudging through the sand

I turned away, from sea deceased
My haggard face towards the feast
Where blank men bowed before the priest
Who lauded pettiness as grand

On seeing this I winced and turned
And eschewed sight for sound
Reason told me that she was dead
But you might still be found

I meted out nine mighty blows
‘Twixt the ribs of moonmad foes
And from above the clamor rose
A single plaintive sound

Into this throng, I thrust myself
With neither fear nor feint of start
And cursed the pale automatons
Whose ranks I rent apart

As sure as day will yield to night
The balmy bliss of pure sunlight
And substitute a dream for sight
I fought with all my heart

You lay upon the sandswept stone
And shrieked your life into the air
A canopy of flesh was borne
By clothéd trunks that crushed you there

The earth did sag beneath the weight
Of lifeless life on greyscale slate
As flowed the rills of crimson fate
Whose sight I could not bear

“Come unto me”, you wheezed aloud
While I cut a swath to you
And though its beasts bare tooth and claw
There is no murder in a zoo

Little gems rolled from my eyes
You quieted my shuddered sighs
And lied that everything that dies
Is sure to rise anew

My dearest darling, sweetest dove
I protected you from cold
And sickness, sadness, voids below
Uncertainty above

But what I could not make obey
That like a hound of hell would bay
Did visit you upon that day
And trample you, my love.