Ode to an Animal God

Eyes, claws, fangs and fire;
Whirling in agony in my desire.
Moans, groans, dreams, grins.
In my madness I sought peace,
In the shadows I found bliss.
Now the chains of life lie broken.
To eternity I've woken.
All the time alive I've been,
All of nothing have I seen.
Having danced what I've been sung.
Oh, I've listened and was wrong,
For I've danced on an ode
To an animal god.
Blood is shed with sinful lust
By the whips of the unholy
Flesh is beaten, flesh is lost
Tears are swallowed, days are cursed
Evil hours live I must.
In the deep abyss of hell
Light is dead and hope as well.
It is there that wish is born
Lying small, and dry and torn.
But the beast casts spells with wrath
Life is folly, joy is bluff.
In my mind that's numb and weak
Wisdom, council, trust I seek.
Withered, no thing I find
Not in me, not in sinners, not in thee!
Thou art not what I believe
What I loathe and what I need.
In the boiling sands of death
All my bones will lie bereft
Of all beauty and all pride,
And all power and all might.
In the palm of night it lies
All that nature bleeds and cries
Thus mourn not the death of youth,
But of virtue and of truth.