Shadows stalk
as if hunger prowling.
Howless mouths
nip at heels
without footing—
a promise
of devouring.

Stillborn cries
etch a throat raw.
Message bottles
thrown to the black
brought back
shattered
on the ocean shore.

Heavy head
without a crown.
Lift your eyes,
grasp fire.
Defy them.

Turn to spit
on this thunder-ground
and scatter
clouds that blind you.

Yet Atlas slips
without a sound.

His weight
now shared
in mouths—
divided.