Challenge Submission Above and Below

[firefly]

.

Dark night, pale light,
the dawn of my memory,
my past woven fast,
a blanket on my brow.

Each night I hail the black sea,
and whisper to the white crowns.
They glimmer silver on waves that break,
relentless and unending.
They are promises and pleas,
dancing in cold mist.

Cold reflections skim my consciousness,
glinting fissures like stars,
bright lights in the mirror above my torment.
My pain scribes the sky.

How many days,
out here, beyond,
fleeing from that light?
Seams of blue line my bones,
veins of longing under my skin.
Rivers leading to rivers,
my mercy sings to me,
beyond the sheltered shore.

She sails with me near ev'ry night,
moonlight between the planes.
My desire, my shame are deep shadows,
cast stark across the pale.

They don't understand.
They hiss and cringe and skirt along the rails.
Not souls, just fog,
rippling veils across my face.

Tear yourself away,
come back from there,
you fool!

Thin warnings,
tepid water,
pouring from starved tongues,
long and thin from envy.

Their hands are nets,
lashing to me, ghosting through me.
My form is fading, just a memory,
more real than I was before.

Above,
Her song draws me to her,
Below,
Her hands pull me down.