Whispered Senryu

they came out for you,
the constellations in their spectral gowns,
Venus with her steadfast silver eye,
and we watched them dance,
only kamikaze moths shattering the silence,
their death songs shushed against the old hurricane lamp,
and we dreamt of ancient boats braving the sea,
our weathered faces lifted to the night,
eyes transfixed by the faceless pointing stars;

until somehow it no longer mattered,
if we reached the shore,
if there was a shore,
if we were together,
if there was a forever,
waves curling the colour of gun metal clouds,
ragged sails flailing like flags of surrender,
my prayer returns without ear, without trajectory,
bitter and cold against the roof of my mouth;

but the uncharted gloom has its own lexicon,
if you blink your stars out of the brine,
primal archetypes throw patterns in unlit light;
searching for reason, i negotiate with pain,
despairing solitude, i bend time in vain,
though i know somehow it no longer matters,
that I am sailing alone,
where the moon tides are borne,
that the ocean will mirror its conceived sky,
that the water will whisper senryu,
to sinking hearts,
in the voice of the guttural desert wind.