I have worshipped you
And no fissure was wide
Enough to threaten
Your enthroned pride.

I’m still quick to bow,
But my eyes are open
To the strength of the vessel
I’ve stored all my hope in

Wandering allegiances,
Mobilized on all fronts,
Laterally exposed,
But you stood unified once,

Or so I believed
From my prostrate view.
Was this dangerous pride born
In my exaltation of you?

To believe you can submerge
Your hand in the flame,
To remain with what burns,
But escape more the same,

And you have already changed,
But your eyes cannot see
How you flicker like flames
For and against me

Like our kingdom could never
Be destroyed by fire,
Like you are invincible
Against your own desires

And I was wrong to return,
To bow low my will,
To allow you to forget:
All that breathes is fragile.