in the darkest black of the deepest world
a great beast stirs and moves
every twitch of it's great form echos
through the depths
knowing absolute, the realm for which
it swam, the beast longs for more
for eons it has paced alone
every rock and grain of sand known
by it's great tentacles
utop a shelf of stone, perches the beast.
something whispers then, and the beast listens
"great beast," it speaks. "ever loyal
sentinel, you must you know every stone"
the beast is still now, as the whisper said
"i can show you something new."
the beast looks within itself then and
feels around the edge of its longing
a great pit in the center of it's heart.
the debris is forgotten
it is cast to the deep
now the beast rises.
great currents break against the walls of the ravine,
as the beast draws itself towards the whisper
tentacles rip boulders free as it climbs
the walls of the creature's domain give way
to a great openness.
the beast bursts into this new world, screaming.
thunderous sound flows out into the open sea
the beast pauses, gripped by a fear
that it has never before known.
the fear falls into the great pit
and the beast resumes it's ascent.
the beast drags itself across the rock
trenches are left like wounds
as tentacles pull madly at the world
for days, the beast journeys
the gashes left behind bubble and bleed
great flows pool over the expanse
the beast comes then to a slope
and the voice comes again, clearer,
"while you've waited, i've made for you
a throne." it proclaimed. "a great
pedestal"
"i have drawn shapes from the depths,
raised mountains to bring you to me.
a pedestal for a king," it said
and the beast knew then what it was to do
the ground cracked and broke,
as the great beast brought itself
up the great slope.
for days more, the beast rose.
the sea changs as the beast moves,
great weight lifts from it's body
and the great beast cries out in pain
it's limbs deform and break
immense pressure rushes to find escape
the pain falls into the great pit
and the beast continues on.
for a very long time, it continues upwards
the beast drags it's broken body
and a trail of dark blood fades into the sea
as the great beast rises
the water becomes warm
and the slope becomes shallow.
it comes then to a shore, and hesitates.
the beast feels then on it's skin
that the weight is all but gone.
the voice comes again, clear and powerful.
"great beast," it says, "do not pause now,
i know you still can feel it."
the great beast feels then, the pit
has become a gaping maw.
the hesitation falls into the pit
and the beast draws itself from the water
the sky sears the beast's skin,
it's body cracks against the dry ground
as the beast draws itself over the land
the great beast comes then to a great mountain
it doesn't hesitate, pulling itself upwards
it's skin is transluscent in the open air.
for a day more, it scrambles upwards
as it nears the peak, the beast chokes and gasps
the thin air rushes over cracked skin.
the slope ends, then, and the beast
finds itself utop the tallest peak.
a great sigh then, and the beast waits.
"i can finally see you," the sun above says,
clear and powerful at last. "i've waited
all this time," it says.
warmth and light washes over the great beast
the pit in it's heart is filled then
the sun's rays wash over it's broken body
the longing is over, the great beast lays still.
as beams of light cradle the great beast's body
the sun shapes it into something new.
the great beast's body is made formless
great tentacles made nimble
the sun returns the creature to it's home in the sea
no longer a great beast, the jellyfish drifts free
free now from longing, from fear and pain
the jellyfish float through the oceans.
when you have a heart rate of
60 bpm and you live in the
city, people will come to see you
my doctor was on a house call when he asked
if i had any pets, and he asked to see
James when that was all i had to answer
i told him that James would only come when
i call, and not in front of guests, and he
warily accepted. i told him James was half mouse
half cat, had fur that glistened, and he was
upset.
we were done then, and he closed the door
on his way out.
i sat on the floor in the living room, and
it curled itself around me. golden fur and
beady eyes and claws that kill and
two jealous eyes in the front window.
another day i told him that jellyfish don't think
and he said it wasn't his job to think of
jellyfishes' unthinkingness
i asked him then what his job was and he said
like captain to boat he is to his patients, he
rights them
i asked him what he is to do if the course
was never right in the first place
and he looked at me for an eternity
he didn't come back, and the nurses told me
that he was on indefinite leave. one whispered
to me in a dark room that he had died, but
i know that he dreams of James as i dream of him
