Brutal soul, cannibal of dreams,
you are rapacious, insatiable.

Night burns into day, and into
night again, and there is no mercy.

There is no angel, no anesthesia.
There is only gnawing hunger.

There is only hunger, the mother of lies,
and a god who will not speak.

I will not tempt you, Unknown One.
I am not so vain, nor a fool.

I am not so vain to think, nor dream
myself into the cold flood, believing.

Believing I would not sink, I would sink.
I am utterly mad, but not a fool.

Mad, but not a fool, the hot lashes
make red stripes upon my skin.

Upon my skin, these scars of time, white
and cold, say, “Yes, you are a fool.”