ruins of the fortress smolder
.
she has been unchained from the tyrant
freed by howling liberators
.
all cease to hail
the master of bloody card tricks
falling
he fails to find grace
or coins for his dead eyes
behind unfearing ears
.
the man who would kill the world sure in the notion
he was the sole heir
paraded backwards atop royal donkey
steam rising from his legend
he now knows the planet is round
.
she tosses her ring into the bottomless pit of him
.
grateful for life yet to be lived
her mind races to gather precious moments from the fire
optimism kindness mercy wisdom charity
all she has learned
placed into saint juliana’s reliquary head
carried in her saddle leather
.
gilded war horse mounted
her rosewood eyes survey the newly lost world
she follows the light upward
embers rise from collapsing thatched rooftops
becoming stars
as they reach azure firmament
.
around her neck
a rosary made for the christian messiah
silver crescent moon for allah
the seal of solomon
and a piece of amber for those who know
god is the sky
.
riding stick lashes across time
thunderously galloping
toward the gateway to the holy land
she seeks a new jerusalem
.
plumes of red and orange organza
silk and chiffon
explode from her stride
the dust remembering big bang theory
as she soars triumphant
towards a goodness
unlike any she has ever known
.
a place where tongues speak truth
hearts are brave and upright
so that any god may love them
.
surrounded by those
who have paid their prayer tax
she has made her own way
to the port of messina
.
behold the blue sea
.
cerulean wishing well
.
and the possibility
of a heaven
that will decide
what becomes of us
