the doom slinger 4

Satan spiraled 
through the 
woke turbulence
vortexes   
his 
bullet clipped 
and holed 
emaciated 
wings spread 
like they were  
pinned 
by an
invisible 
god's  
entomologists
finger pads 
as he 
slipped 
through the 
killing jars  
ether

Satan 
was
desperately
trying 
to slow 
his decent 
as he 
tried to read 
the ethers 
jet streams 
when he 
slammed 
into a 
hibernating
shadow tree 
growing out 
from the 
pear shaped 
chasms 
stagnant
weeping walls 
which  
knocked the wind 
from
beneath his wings 
he then 
desperately 
tried 
to cling 
like a hatched 
partridge fetus 
to the 
tree for life  
as gravity 
suckered him
into
slipping 
like a snake
along a branch 
then
hanging 
like a fruit 
until 
inevitably 
rotting 
dropping 
back
into the fall
 
Satan's 
holy wings folded  
like in a prayer 
didn't 
have a hope
of slowing 
his 
steep descent 
as he 
plunged 
head first 
into the 
watery cold 
black void 
his
momentum  
dragging 
him under 
the voids 
dark foaming
surface 
where 
all was 
absorbed 

corpse arms 
failing 
he rose 
to the 
voids 
foaming surface 
gasping 
just as the 
uprooted 
shadow tree
slammed 
into his chest 
knocking 
the proverbial wind 
from him 
yet again

he rose 
again 
to the 
voids surface
gasping 
for 
essence
the voids 
emptiness 
flooded in 
burning his lungs 
and throat
knowing 
he was in 
quite the pickle 
he grabbed hold 
of one of the
trees 
proffered 
outstretched limbs  
grateful 
for something 
to hold to 
in the 
meaningless 
dark foaming 
voids brine 

waves of fear 
rolled and crashed 
over him 
as Satan 
fought
his way 
through the 
foaming void 
and 
tangled limbs 
to the 
middle 
of the 
shadow tree's 
trunk 
where being 
more stable
he pulled 
himself up 
onto his  
dead looking 
tree of life raft
before 
collapsing 
like an 
emaciated 
split crow 
carved
on a totem 
in an 
exhausted relief 

a wave 
slapped him 
awake 
as he 
wiped the
stinging void 
from his 
eyes
until 
he thought 
he saw 
the blurry outline 
of an ark 
pitching 
and 
rolling 
on his 
horizon 

Satan
paddled 
towards 
where he 
thought hoped 
he had 
envisioned 
the ark 
but the 
wind 
and 
lashing waves 
of the void 
tossed 
his life raft 
back
into the 
dispiriting void 
as 
lightning split 
the heavens 
followed 
by the thunder
of the 
emperor's
fallible god's
judgement 

the flash 
revealed nothing 
but the 
freezing emptiness
of the 
heaving 
and 
lashing 
void 
his tree of life 
was 
tossed through 
while
upside-downly 
downly-upside
Satan 
hung on
ever so 
grimly 
as
through time 
the
waves nine tails 
kept on 
stripping the tree 
to its 
heartwood 
while
lashing the fallen 
to the bone 
the brine 
cauterizing the sap
and 
scorching his
lungs and throat
when 
swallowed 
causing
a reaction 
Satan 
shivered
while
retching 
to expel the void's 
icy emptiness 
of doubt 
as he stared  
wild opaque eyed 
into the 
howling blackness 
that stared 
mirror like 
back at him 
as he
waited  
for 
forty benighted aeons
and 
forty enlightenment aeons 
for the ark
to reappear 
while the 
battered
shadow tree 
appeared 
to 
dip and dive
toss and turn 
trying 
to loosen 
his grip 
on life 

in 
another 
bursts 
of lightning 
Satan 
saw with 
foreboding 
other 
messiahs 
floating dead 
bobbing 
flesh corrupted 
eroding away 
on the 
void's dark 
foaming surface 
fastened 
to their trees 
their 
stomachs intestines 
exposed 
knotted 
in a 
figure eight  
bizarrely 
tethering them 
to 
anchors
caught 
on the  
voids icebergs  
desperately 
Satan 
looked through 
the debris 
as lightning 
again
illuminated 
the voids  
ship graveyard 

spotting 
no survivors 
among the 
wreckage 
Satan
gave up
and
paddled on 
battled on 
fueled by 
an age 
of rage 
his 
wind milling arms 
churned the void

Finally
after time 
had abated
Satan rested 
the raging void
calmed  
light from the
heavens above 
became constant 
no longer
flickering 
injecting 
him with 
tormenting 
horrifying 
images of 
death and hope 
into 
the depths 
of his 
opaque eyes  
and the
infallible god's
thunder 
no longer
clapped
rhythmically 
in his ears 
his 
throat 
stripped raw 
from the brine's 
cattales
swallowed 
and his 
mad bellowing 
echoing 
into the
faceless storms  
pointless
bombardments 
had 
fallen silent 
for
Satan 
exhausted 
had
hung his head 
ominously
in 
contemplative resolve 
to 
continue down
the
path of revenge 
upon those 
that had  
traduced him 
and
those of his ilk
he loved  

lifting his head 
from his reprieve 
his eyes revealed
a  lands 
mountainous 
white cloud 
cliffs 

Satan 
wondered  
where in the void 
he had 
drifted 
as the 
distant 
lands greying
harshness 
began to swamp 
his eyes
with 
survival tears

Satan 
had no idea
how far offshore 
he lay adrift 
but as his 
corpse thin arms 
began windmilling  
upon his 
tree of life 
breaking 
the voids 
frigid surface 
he fixed his will  
on the beckoning distance 
that fed him intravenously 
a little more persistence 
 
thinking 
he was closing 
in with the land  
he began 
to make out 
the features 
of the distant 
rocky shore line 
his corpse arms 
exhausted 
wind milled limply 
on 
fill of aching knotts
and 
will breaking pain
Satan 
ignored 
his grinding bones
continued circling 
willing himself on 
through 
the blissless 
will sapping 
milling void 

cranking up
his 
heavy head
for his 
opaque eyes 
to measure 
the distance 
left to beach 
upon that
pebbled pearly 
shore 
his 
opaque eyes 
cried out 
from the 
crows nest 

"we be 
nay the closer
cap'n"

where upon 
Satan's
vessel 
lost 
it's bottled 
elixir 

an odd specimen 
drained of adrenaline 
it's flesh gone  
skin baked on 
to crumpling bone
left alone to atone  
on a fruit tree devoid 
on a bloodless void 

© by bg 2021