Cradle the flame close to your heart,
Pause and unpause and stop and start-
Lick and shatter. 
Bruise and batter
Creep the ice and still your mind,
And throw away the rotting rind.

I beg you thee for thine permission, 
Hands clasped to honor superstition,
And I eye you from beneath the tent
"give me the ticket for which I sent-"
And let me claw the lions' lids.
They roar the loudest to the highest bids.

Please handle your scars
And drag yourself away from distant Mars.
Are you back now? Are you ready?
Be sure to stand and always stand steady.
You are the immovable object
Ruling your unstoppable subject:
A kingdom conjured within your brain,
Inside a thunderstorm to which it rains.

Iris blesses you
And your eyes too;
These are different, now you know
Do not take the wisdom that you stole
To lull the gull in the hull where you sew-
its wings to its back. And you watch it pull
At the stitches and seams
Its suffering only you can deem
Regrettable or not;
If the lesson learned and got.

Then cradle Icarus after the fall.
Then hold him after you watch him stall
And stumble and crumble and tumble midair;
A makeshift angel falling off heaven's stair.
Give him wings, promise him ice & fire;
Then steal his freedom and what he most desires.

O two toned boy,
Blessed by Iris,
Sewing your fate and his;
Be careful what you embroider.
And what you wish.
A family in flames
Is a match borne in blood.