Now, the speaker forms a Faustian contract
with the monster, so this next poem
is a list of reasons for that.
"Seal."
Because it was he.
Because it was I. Because love was the water course, limit,
and sign.
Because we love what we love, when it brands us.
Because he covered my lack.
Because his blazon seared my tongue.
Because no hunger, no shadow, no trace, no mercy, no sleep.
Because the moon-raked canyons of neon.
Because Tokyo-pulsed hydrangeas.
Because secrets hinge on grimoires.
Unleash every weather.
Because no canticles raise his name.
Because wings loosened as marcasite.
Because birthright-- never to be the hatchet, but the wood.