Eternal Bride
by Nevada Kerr

Mother immortal, bride eternal
Beloved death of my body
You feed my hunger and starve my love

I embrace the pain you speak in the shadows
Summon ghosts to feed the terror in your eyes
Knowing that only the dread of you might keep me away

A wordless barb darting off your tongue
I was ejected from your mouth
My ancient syllables splitting from your scorn and silence

I remove my body from this shadow I carry
A memory, a mirror of your rejection
The one I embrace in dreams

I whisper to you, wind of a mother
As you scatter the remains of a healing hand
Fingers, bones thrown to the hounds of doom
Return the body of my youth
So that I may once again be your groom

I catch shadows of your smile
Still smell the odor of betrayal that spirals up from the bog and swamp
Your old hangouts
You are the only memory of daylight I have before the bombs fell
Before the clocks took over

Even the treachery of demons and thieves is no match for your silence
I find but then lose sight of your name
Written in blood between the pages of my eyes

I forsake the web of lies that is your love
This trivial pursuit of home and hearth
I toss your greedy laughter from my lips
When you break through
My body trembles, my sex eludes me

I have become a blur
Reshaped from the holy clay you smuggled from the depths of sea and sorrow

Mother immortal, bride eternal
Return my voice and shadow
I can no longer sleep standing up in this open grave without you

Written by Nevada Kerr
A three-page poem written on Halloween 1990, originally entitled 'Exile'.
Abridged, updated, and renamed 8th October 2001.