All our sweetness

Since a hunger yawned within him
he attended all their lies —
of the sacred faith they fought for,
of virgins in Paradise —

but knew the soil of a body
holds a restless, precious flower
that wants no heaven's forever
nor but one transcendent hour.

So he, like the ancient god-kings,
gave himself as sacrifice,
and smiled as his handlers strapped him,
their visionary eyes like ice.

And then, in the sudden thunder —
before blood and screams and pain —
his sad soul bloomed its moment,
not ever to shine again.