fantasy – Page 36 – elancharan gunasekaran

grimoires of old drift beneath grim waters torn pages bloom into kelp and ink slithers away as eels

autumn dawn winds grow in excitement and tree leaves catch fire

each blade forged sings its own funeral and the blacksmith learns the language of death

made of soft bone bugs death and grim orbit the carnal flame of a lantern she carries across the misty stream

bees hover in ecstasy over the smoke for the pollen is molten and the fire it drips is the alltruth in the garden of paradise

danger and treasure collide moth riders dive into hives of toxic rain to collect a few drops of soma

while the forest sleeps pilgrims kneel before faceless gods to shape urns of silence

on the coast where silence is worshipped and coral sharpened trees bloom faces instead of fruit

down at the autumn pond the prophet frog struggles to dream in a haze of flies

sipping on autumn infused tea and watching moths carry memory of maps to nowhere