XIII: Death (Smith-Waite Tarot) by Marie C. Lecrivain

Tarot card from the Rider–Waite tarot deck, also known as the Rider–Waite–Smith deck.

 
The King is dead.
Long live anarchy!
But it’s not to be. 

You’re here to cull the fluff;
your ego, the uncertainty,
your deep desire
to be the authority -
all of it. Your conditioning,
in the guise  
of a papal rapist,
holds his gloved hands up
to receive the mercy
he believes he deserves. 

Your lipless grin
stretches across the horizon.
When you wake,
you’ll feel disoriented
and slightly foolish,
after all, what is death
but an endless dream?

 

 Marie C Lecrivain is a poet, publisher, and curator of two literary blogs: Dashboard Horus: A Bird’s Eye of the Universe, and Al-Khemia Poetica: A Women’s Art and Literary Journal. Her work has been published in many journals worldwide. She's the author of several books of poetry and fiction, and editor of Ashes to Stardust: A David Bowie Tribute Anthology (2023 Sybaritic Press, www.sybpress.com).