the first requiem

before there were names
to carve upon graves
when the sun was dragged 
across the heavens 
and the moon 
owed nothin to the tides
rivers wandered
stars gathered
where they pleased
gods still walked among creation
and death walked among the gods

there came a war
that split the sky
and one by one
the gods grew still
their bodies stretched 
across the earth
ribs cradled the night 
crowns were buried
beneath mountains
empty eyes fillin with rainwater
their blood runnin
dark thru riverbeds
seepin into the roots
of ancient forests
til every tree sang their names

death climbed the corpses
of fallen gods
runnin his hands
along broken ribs
listenin for echoes
still trapped in bone
he turned teeth
beneath moonlight
and drew long veins
from empty chests
he gathered only
what the wars
had failed to break
while the rest
was returned to silence

centuries passed
with death bent over his work
patient hands
persuadin bone
to find another purpose
stretchin veins
til they trembled
then tighter still
til they began to hum
beneath meticulous fingers
teeth settlin into place
one quiet click at a time

he measured
again
he carved
again
he polished
again
dust gathered
in the folds of his robe
while the world
forgot another age
and when the last rough edge
disappeared beneath his hands

death smiled

great arches of ivory
stood before him
their curves still carryin
the shape of heaven
rows of teeth
waited in silence
veins pulled tight
holdin the last voices
of forgotten gods
for the hands
that had remade them
to call them home

and all the world waited

death settled himself
onto the bone white bench
his foot lowered the jaw
of a polished skull
and veins drew tighter
as one pale tooth sank
beneath his finger
lettin go
of a single note

one note

so old
the mountains
remembered bein gods
the rivers
remembered their blood
and the forests answered
with the songs
they had carried
for ages

somewhere
beneath the music
lost gods
sang themselves home
and for the first time
since the sky was broken
death
was no longer alone