#userxan

i had a dream about an ancient astronomer. he lived on a cliff in the outskirts of our city, andalus, with his brother who could not walk. when i asked why he lived so far from the city that glowed for miles even at night, he told me an astronomer cannot see the sky amidst the light. he was tracking the movement of thebe, but claimed jupiter had a thousand more moons. a moon made of diamond, another of dark smoke. he knew more, but did not tell me. so instead, i flipped through his parchments which were marked by drops of brown ink and delicate projectary lines. his brother would polish eye glasses and talk of the greeks and their stories of the constellations. i awoke this morning and caught myself glancing east many times during the day. by late afternoon, i’d set my horse out and rode until evening, reaching the closest seaside. there, on the cliff was a small house with dull candle light flickering through the shuttered windows. someone sat outside in the cold sand and another stood on the roof holding a strange glowing object to the stars

he made a galaxy in a test tube, extracted stars with a burette. the black holes, he sealed away in a volumetric flask for later. the planets he ground into a fine powder with a mortar and pestle, packing them into gram sized pills. his fingers were stained with cosmic gore by one a.m, and he hid them in his lab coat as he walked home

veins; flowing with molten sunlight and liquid gold, shone through his skin like jewellery. he was a king adorned by riches within himself, gifted with the eyes of an angel. people would touch him and recoil, singed by his beauty. even thieves could not bring themselves to cut him open to steal his blood, for he was priceless whole and just a speck was not enough

and now you've done it. there's a sting inside my chest and when i reach in, i rip out fists full of tiny crushed flowers, strewn across my shaking palms . they'll just grow back, and it hurts, the petals tinged with blood. but they are so beautiful. you've grown in me a sun, you've turned my tears into rain, and my lungs have rooted with wildflowers that ever so slowly choke me from within

wings of gold, silver lashes, translucent flesh, bite marks - dark, grey, gone goodbye, paradise