My Day 30 poem for National Poetry Writing Month uses the prompt on Napowrimo.net—to write ‘a poem about something that happens again and again.’

Continuum

Every hour
of every day
an ending
an ascent to the sun
in permanent eclipse
marked by undulating flesh
and salty tears

The ritual
must continue
offerings
made to the bejewelled figure
hidden beneath the shroud
flames lit on the altar
a bell quietly rung

Clicks
scratches
an open chord, suspended

Solar flares
a comb left on a table
secrets kept by shaky hands

The ritual
is a search
for answers
            Where are we now?
hidden beneath the shroud
in flames lit on the altar
a bell quietly rung

Each morning
the forgetting
begins anew
constant erasure
butting up against the desire to remember
writing frantically in the book
through salty tears

(29 April 2017—posted April 30th ET)