Lament for Sylvia

"Stasis in darkness, substanceless blue
Pour of tor and distances -"

Or so it goes
The lioness rears her proud head
Paws the earth, leaving a black wound
Gaping there, unwilling to astound
Lazarus-awaiting crowds with miraculous
Deeds

Words cannot rise from this weight

Filaments of preciousness thin, snap
Cracking under pressure of years' fate
Once, twice, thrice you tried, third time
The ever-proverbial charm
Arms reaching around the sky, pulling it
In onto yourself -

Here, years later, I sit, paltry
Staring at your stone.  Blurred.  Words
Alone cannot rise, cannot find the perfection
That should have come to fruition.

Streaking through the night, you ride -
Lady Godiva, unpeeled in your glory -
Story after story spiraling off your shimmering frame
While the sun weeps, unable to keep
Living up to your name

Slash a red wound in the black - slash it open,
Smash your fists into the demon that claimed
You - rage against the inexorable bird
Hawkishly enfolding the prey!

Wheat splits, furrows, passes around you -
The child's scream solidifies

Spiral into the night,
Living, if only to die.