fall on your knees before me. it’s the surest way
to prove true love. you may think it unusual
and cruel, but men have been falling before
their gods for millenia, before time even
ever existed, when there was only space
and humans were unblessed with the curse
of memory.
                     it may seem fealty is no substitute
for the kind of love to which you’ve grown
accustomed–soft caresses, roses opened
to their fullest possible bloom–but obedience
is most sure, most stable. it is timeless
and certain, the only true way to know
if this is the real thing. that you’ll never escape.