Whale

His words echo millenniums
tracing ropes through the air
ensnaring the ears of his sycophants
lulling phrases with empty emphasis
pushing past basic hearing
into a deeper emotional sounds
strumming chords of being
as they smile and nod towards
his countenance and wring their hands
pouring sweat into the gutter

pulling on his boots he walks home
the dust of his footsteps sweeping away
the trash on the shattered sidewalks
towards heaven where all the odds and ends
reside waiting for the end of eternity
his mind fixed on the meal at home
steaming the air with odors memorable
staining the skyline with a deathly pallor
skulls rising out of smoke

the door opens slowly with a cough of rust
his steps take a quick rhythm traipsing
through the threshold as shadows pass
the trees holding up the sky
his mind distracted by the smell
he devours the meal
his wife a ghostly shade on the wall
smiling through paint on plaster
never moving or changing
watching over the home forever

his steps ring up the stairs
as he lays in bed with the usual quick
necessary movements finding the pillows
sheets in perfect order his eyes close
dreams take over

smell of ocean
burnt fingers pulling
apart lobsters
beach of chalk
footprints burning
and dead whales mark every mile

he wakes and doesn't bother with his coat
running out the door before words exchanged
race to the beach hands burning desire
the water is cold on his legs wading
out to the waist and staring out into the horizon
he raises a fist of steel and exits stage left

the body floated out into the ocean
where the whales swim
and he slowly sank into the depths
where the whales swim