Uroboros

By Bruce Boston

Long torso lashing,
dark water streaming,
I rise from the sea,
my scaled sides a flexed
and living geometry
upon the night.

Poison glistening in
the facets of my tongue,
stars flecking my hide,
I fly against the moon;
my tail, the antidote,
slithers behind.

I slough off death,
raise the bodies entombed,
reap the bone orchard,
clothe these ivory sticks
in fast failing flesh
to reap them once again.

In the restless bondage
of my sleek embrace
I encircle the earth
like a devouring lover.
I consume empires
and cough up history.

I eat dead souls and
feed each wanting womb.
In the curve of my coils
the wailing faces
stretch and tighten.
Endlessly, I swallow.