I am the dark, that goes along,
snuffs every bleary light
and traces a path to the center
of the stones of your house, where upright
stands the slick noise that calls the name
of bastards, wives, and sailors
and begs them slip down the dappling cracks
to the choke of the echoing core.
And out of the breath of the thankless world
comes the laudanum roar of the sea
calling you into its stone silhouette
to honor your debt
to me