the Star Chamber

by Jesse S. Mitchell

The Star Chamber

Midnight bloom that is called the moon,

It didn’t come from a flower

And it didn’t come from seed.

Great big bloom they made the moon,

But it didn’t come from fire

And it didn’t come from seed,

It came from a wound and it needs to bleed.

(forever and forever and forever and forever)

It sits on top of me, above me

Like a crown,

A crown of tiny little flames,

So only Moses knows

And I can’t read,

I can’t read a word.

And it comes down like gravel, rockslide

And lets the water in

Mara mara,

Bitter water in,

And it makes something sinister of the sounds

The spiral and twist on my lips,

(forever and forever and forever and forever)

Oh oleander, oleander, nerium oleander, toxic in all its parts,

Oh Leander, Leander, guided by light

Drown to death seeking a Hero.

Toxic in its parts.

Sunrise bites holes in the sky, great giant holes

The Sunshine eats holes in sky,

Perforated from the Earth it tears away…

So easily, wrapped in a blanket

Filled with hot coals,

Burn your lips,

Go fly with the birds,

Perforated and torn.

(forever and forever and forever and forever)

Oh oleander, oleander, nerium oleander, toxic in all its parts,

Oh Leander, Leander, guided by light

Drown to death seeking a Hero.

Toxic in its parts,

But it didn’t come from fire

And it didn’t come from seed,

It came from a wound and it needs to bleed.