Stars fall from the sky 

And congregate on the ground to erect an ivory palace,

As bright as day, as searing as the desires 

Entombed deep under the earth's surface.

 

It doesn't take nightfall 

To lure them inside-

The eager, the crafty, the venal, the mortal.

Every nugget of their flesh blazes in the lambent lights.

 

Inscrutable power it gives them 

As they undress the bedecked walls,

Strip them of their drapes and ornaments.

Gotta have it all.

 

But what happens really

When they have it all?

When they reach the point of satiety

Of sin, big or small?

 

Where do they go

From the aftermath unknown?

After the dizzying silence unfolds, 

After they fall over like a row of dominoes?

 

The aftermath always prevails.

There's a day even after the day of days. 

For fate's gaze holds hostage 

Even those who embody their masquerades.

 

Shifa