AFRIT

for marlee

                       "and verily, I am indeed
                                         strong."
                                               -Qu'ran

above all, you are
fire, a smoke of blood & rage
a pillar
under the sky of
Sinai to which men offer themselves as
holocaust
         and for your wake of cinders
         you
           weep
         in the dark sketches of rooms
         with no roofs
                      and
                      after your passage
                      we come
         to transcribe the emblems
         of ash and ember you
         have left upon the walls

though you rend & boil at
the water hidden
                in your ribs

                we know
                when the sky 
                falls
                     you will
                hold
                it
                up
                     tears
                     like medallions
                     in your blazing
                     eyes.

                          31 January 2014