Lucifer's Cello Poem by Shiraz Bautista

The weight of the world
gently pressed against
slates of ivory
plated on an ebony tomb
sheered in jet black polish
as it hums minor seventh arpeggios -
the melodic malady of a refugee
exploring a cyanide denouement

Phyrgian staccato strikes
percussively stabbing the oasis
Lucifer's cello delivers
from the basal epidermis
skin deep sacrilege
surfacing as scars
blitzed blisters
tarnishing the portrait we seek,
as it hides behind
panels of bulletproof glass