I’ve seen the altar grief Burned out in the pallor of disbelief Death-fires dance and glow Flicker in the pass, through wind and snow I’ve fallen down to the ground; a secret ministry that moans and cries like a choir Swept up in apotheosis; a procession all under the Banner of Saturn. And you can’t turn back; it’s never up Because the trail runs blind: meandering, disfigured. I’ve never heard tell, of such a Penrose Mount forlorn, Where ten-thousand shattered, deformed horizons burn Relinquished Desire: Axis of Extinction turns The fevering, the bone ground down Macerated, Incandescent urns. And painted slate-black, Fate, stunned yawns With the pale promise of the descent, fades, new dawns And the cold atrophied bodies, who were guides, Unburdened by their lives Wandering, sing From the firmament, one-by-one, crippled testaments… Fallen, Frozen, Landmarks: Libations to the Summit. Plunged into the numbing torchlight The Resolute Apostle enthralled To witness unforgotten torment And breath deep the Martyrs’ awn Dispatched the paraphernalia; both vicar and victim are those who gaze long Where Descent and Ascent are self-same: throw the thoughts out, and a World withdraws. To peer no further The needle touches The praying prophets outstretched and inscribed Demanded penance, from Butchers’ hands Unburdened by Humiliation A Maze of eyes Frozen alive A myriad of Rats in the night sky Mutilated, bodies are seething All in flames, kowtow to the Khrystal. I’m holding court, with the Other creatures Burned in effigy to the Other gods.