across the atrium faces die to be heard
within the canons of the heart
no word is sacred
beneath the wry shade of the architrave
beyond the sanguine of the heart
tides of lemming gather
herein lies the hard pentagonal truth
that is shaved and fey uneven
as its odd numbered name
archives of uncertainty can forever
appraise the aggravated fortune
of the stranded millions
decapitated faces on a wet black wall
can forever raise their cries
mute as an arbiter's blade
on the defiled atlantes of modernity
turning to bone ancient tunes
the high court listens
in the harrowing canons of our minds
each of us can still evoke
the canticles of rage
Copyright © 2002 Bruce Boston
The author of twenty-eight books, Bruce Boston has published in hundreds of magazines and anthologies, including Asimov's, Weird Tales, Pushcart Prize Anthology, Year's Best Fantasy and Horror, and the Nebula Awards anthology. In 1999 the Science Fiction Poetry Association honored him with the first Grand Master Award in its twenty-two year history. He would be delighted if you sent him mail. Bruce's previous publications in Strange Horizons can be found in our Archive.