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



Must learn to serve me well



You strike my side by accident



As you go down to your goal



This 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



I who am on a pedestal



You did not raise me there



Your laws do not compel me now



To kneel grotesque and bare



For I myself am the pedestal



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



Are the crumbs I've left behind



Your pain is no credential here



It's just a shadow of my wound



I have begun to ask for you



I who have no greed



I have begun to long 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 do not love me quite so fiercely now



When you know that you are not sure



It is your turn, my beloved one



It is your flesh that I wear