Arthur and Merlin’s Cave
Rain sick,
Bound by the small hours-
He is fading
Walks through the moors,
Past the hard ponies,
Their hair lumpy with burs and their noses raw with nettle rash
The sheep skitter like a dropped bag of pellets
As he goes
He pulls at the earth,
Tearing lengths of green and brown
In his tired hands and the dirt
Stains him cleaner
Things to build a prayer with,
Maybe,
Mud is a good filler
Nothing but sharp toothed patience
And hungry time
To battle his thundering heart
The rain bends his back with watery fingers
And the cave sticks its shadow tongue at him
As he breaks through the gloom
Into the hollow dry
“You forgot to teach me about love”
He cries into the space of endless all
And waits for a reply,
Knowing that to ask is to answer