Avalanche

I stepped into an avalanche

It covered up my soul

When I am not this hunchback that you see

I sleep beneath the golden hill

You who wish to conquer pain

You must learn, learn to serve me well

You strike my side by accident

As you go down for your gold

The cripple here that you clothe and feed

Is neither starved nor cold

He does not ask for your company

Not at the center, the center of the world

When I am on a pedestal

You did not raise me there

Your laws do not compel me

To kneel grotesque and bare

I myself am the pedestal

For this ugly hump at which you stare

You who wish to conquer pain

You must learn what makes me kind

The crumbs of love that you offer me

They're the crumbs I've left behind

Your pain is no credential here

It's just the shadow, shadow of my wound

I have begun to long for you

I who have no greed

I have begun to ask for you

I who have no need

You say you've gone away from me

But I can feel you when you breathe

Do not dress in those rags for me

I know you are not poor

And don't love me quite so fiercely now

When you know that you are not sure

It is your turn, beloved

It is your flesh that I wear