Spread across the ocean ahead
A sight blotted thick with ink
As the sea and sky bleed into one
A roar and spray of the wind
As a dog flees the cracking whip
The howls a hushed whistling
Seams of gold in the clouds of grey
Marbled with searing molten streaks
Orion silently watching over Zeus’ wrath
Here I stand at the end of the world
Before a bellowing mouth of the cosmos
Stricken with fear
Not at the violent distance of the gods
But of the soul inhabiting my meekness
A son of the universe enmeshed in flesh
The child forged in a solar furnace
Now embers in the Garden of Eden
Melting iron and rock into steel and light
So the sky clears and the ocean calms
But the storm within remains
The clanging of Hephaestus’ anvil
The heart of God beating in our chest
— Daniel Elias
March 29, 2025