Prex 1/2. (The Purpose Of Love/Entreatment) Poem by Shane Joshua Thomas

[Precor]:

When you created us, it was for the purpose of love,
To be made lovers of our own souls;
Yet now I seek to terrorise and devour my own.

Have I not regarded my soul as a brother?
I can catch her raging embers—she burns still.
Who can destroy the Living Woman, who gave me life?

‘He who endures unto the end shall overcome the All,
And the All shall flee from him,
And it shall return to him.'

Behold! I am filled with (both) life and decay,
With devil and light,
With futility and meaning,
With relinquishment and courage,
With dissipation and growth,
With ember and wax.

And tell the emptiness inside of me
[a word]...
Give the silence inside of me
[a sermon]...

You remember me so well—
How I became besotted with that serpent,
How his imprint made my heart quicken.
But the day shall come
When he shall utter his curses,
And they will have none effect.

Amen.

Prex II. (Entreatment)

[Precamur]:

I did not seek you when I was weak;
I was ashamed to see your face,
and repentance was not on my lips.
Do I not recall the scars beneath your veil?

Lord, have charity towards our flaws
and mercy upon our deepest recesses,
For our love towards you is unperfected.

Amen.