My head is a nest of vipers, my mouth's an aperture

Squirming forth half-paralyzed with my scorched and contorted limbs

Ankles and wrists furcated, an ocean of vermilion fluid drawn out to water the dead earth

As the haze engulfs me, these mangled thoughts convert into white noise

Our armour isn't here to pull me back on my feet, our hopes and dreams aren't here to vouch for a new day

The mirage of your figure has molten into a shapeless distortion

My spirit lies splintered, my throat choked by furor, my heart pined from grief

Our love dissolves to the thrum of Darwin Falls in the distance

"As I reached the skyline with my hand stretched to reach the lap of space, I heard someone calling my name. All of a sudden, the miles-tall tree I conjoined with ceased to grow, then disappeared. And I fell. I fell for a long, long time. Then everything went black again. I pulled my eyelids open with my fingers to let in the torrid morning light. A fever rose during the night, and I could see how the colour of the skin around my ankle, below the belt, had started to darken. My body and soul tarnished, I reclined on the pile, gathered my thoughts, and after a while, embarked on the toils of a new day."