I wonder what he was doing,
or in the middle of,
when he heard his name?
And how did it come,
skipping not only across space,
but even eternity?
Did it distort, spreading its vowels
over broad mountains of time,
or did it race in quick river
consonants down a
steep, divine valley?
LA - ZA - RUS
Three syllables of interruption,
disturbing paradise
and a man with new skin
in a world imbued with light.
Stunned—no doubt—
he staggered toward the familiar
voice, stumbled into a dark
cave redolent of death,
before peering through faded sunshine
into a swarm of wet faces,
his tongue and lips still tinged
with the honeyed feast of heaven.