Ride
For
The
Night
On a train slicing
Through
Space faster than sound, path slicing
Twain the tundra. Now you slice the shadow
Your compartment
Drowned in at dusk as you draw
Qu’il Vienne,
The sword you wield
Unsoulbound.
Switch by switch,
Turn its runes on.
The pallor of the anorthite
Disc in the sky
Gleams on its steel,
Then cedes
To the runes’ own
Gradual glow as they light
The faces of your four
Fellow former Virgin Concubines
Of the late empress.
Strange days yet your lives as outcasts are no colder
Than the fluorescent palace
Nights.
As for your friends,
Light won’t stir them.
They’re
Drugged
As
They
Must
Be
To
Sleep at this speed.