hungry eyes twinkle like stars

in the firelight burnishing a sea of upturned faces

some holy man in significant dress

shapes the air above his head

his hands collect bated breath from his watchers

00

people of a different fashion and time

perch their brows and grow still

breath a heavy smell from insisting, ancient air

their energy streams golden through tall stained glass windows

000

another people who have renounced that primal fire

which swells them with acceptance and blank truth

find themselves gathered beneath a lectern,

or dazzled by electric shadows

their bodies melt into their seats

chins nod up at what they hear

and they, too, content in forgetting themselves for a moment