inside the gatekeepers house

a little lie from Paris
the bright light within starch
a mudpuppy and a dragon's foot
wine and vinegar wine
songs I cannot sing
words I cannot comprehend
voices fading into clouds

once a great spider made its home
above the concrete slab
once it caught a fire salamander
in a web of laundry
once it filled itself with its internal juices
leaving it there to warn us

the gatekeeper's daughter is very beautiful
her hair catches the wind on sunny days
and she flies above the gate into the trees
as if happiness can be found within new growth
and the bits of rainbow carved from drab clay

no one has seen the gatekeeper
since a month ago and more
no one is sure where he has gone
but there is always a shadow nearby

inside the gatekeepers house

large openings and larger mouths
clay objects that once bled freely
and ate delicacies within dust and water

the shadow has misplaced its sponsor
the mudpuppy is a chameleon

the rest of the dragon hopes us a journey well