the man that swallowed the sky
my mother used to tell me the tale
of the man who swallowed the sky
she said long ago there was a boy
whose life was spent in wanting
who looked for his answers at the bottom of a bottle
but found nothing of any use
so he looked elsewhere
in the prick of a needle
the haunt of serotonin
tobacco and gold
he consumed it all but found no relief
so he ate a girls heart
boiled her brain in brine
but was empty inside
so he fed on his family
his home and his friends
he consumed it all but found no relief
so he tore great trees from the ground like toothpicks
fed on the bark and the sap
chewed on dried leaves washed down with rivers
he ate the sun and the moon
the glaciers and the mountain ranges
he lay down and opened his mouth
and sucked in the stars
he consumed it all but found no relief
so he swallowed the sky
the earth and the fire
until all that was left was darkness
it engulfed him
trickled through his veins like jet black ink
turned his skin first white as ice then pitch as a shadow
the darkness consumed him, smothered his will
and as his eyes shut for one last time
he realised his folly
and begged for one last chance
one last wish, to save his soul
and out poured the darkness
the sky and the soil
the stars shot from his fingers and filled the air
the moon and the sun took back their rightful place in time
the trees burst through his skin and settled back in the ground
his family and friends crawled from his gullet
and the girl came last
his body lay on the ground
gaunt and hollow but alive
the past lay behind him like a spectre
but the future stretched before him
eternal and full of hope
as he rose from the ground he smiled
gazed into the great sun
and picked a dried leaf from between his teeth.
Stu Buck
Sun 18th Sep 2016 21:47
thanks martin. im glad you enjoyed it.