Shifting

Strange smoke, strange men, strange words
This is a world I have not ventured in before
Held breath, sharp glances, missed words
I am awash, the sea consumes me, I cannot see the shore.

The water is warm and comforting, it caresses my skin
The glimmer of the sun shimmers green through deep deep blues
Life is below, around, within me. It bumps against my skin
I know that soon the deep will claim me. I will pay my dues

I give up hope. I will submit for I have earned this fate
Then land appears, not on the horizon, but firm beneath my feet
Soft sand gives way and sweeps aside the endless waves
The ocean it has ceased to be. Gives way to a deserts heat.

The water has receded, from the horizon and from my bones
A white sky blazes above and the endless mountains sear beneath me
Vultures circle above. Their cry "Penance! Penance!"
Their black forms circle as I walk towards a haven I cannot know or see

"Penance!" The words ring in my ears, reverberate through my being
A heavy heart tells me I have earned this debt, but to whom?
"Penance!" Tears flow down my checks as I recall no sins
Then I know, it is the sin we have born since the womb.

Then I know what it is I must do. I've read this story before.
Here I must chose, will I be the Albatross or the Mariner?
I reach out one hand towards the scorched sky.
And the cry is silenced and I turn my back on the creator.

Now I walk the ice-y planes. The weight heavy around my neck
I survey the dead landscape before me, where life has forgotten how to breathe
But as the blood slowly stains my skin I do not grow weak
This darkness does not condemn, it is my reprieve.

Surely now I am beyond the reach of redemption.
There are no cathedrals in the waste of frozen humanity
I have done no wrong that centuries before me have not sealed in blood
I will allow not man nor beast nor god to pass judgement on me

I cast aside the vultures corpse, still blood-stained I embrace the land
It rises up to meet me, sharp crystals and clouded snow
I find the colours hidden in depths of the world, I will not reach up
But rather down, into the abyss, for it is all I know.