Library Of Lemon Ghosts
© Surazeus
2025 05 12

Stuck in glass library of lemon ghosts,
I browse books bound with masks of long-dead souls,
then place one mask over my own weird face
so I dream the life journey of that soul,
but when I take it off the mask transforms
into goldfinch that flies into the clouds.

Lemons on the tree in domed reading room
glow with the long-dead souls of nameless gods,
and when I pluck each one they whisper codes
of secrets in forgotten languages
which I drink from tall glass of lemonade
while the goldfinch brings me angel-wing quills.

Shelves of books arranged in orchard rows sway,
spines etched with thorny vines of yellow roses,
and in between them silky leaves drift down
to mutter confessions of secret hopes
that people try to hide as they perform
prewritten roles of gods in ancient books.

Wearing smooth porcelain mask for her face,
Librarian Sylvia in breeze-blown gown
waters lemon tree each morning with ink,
then files silence of souls who died in pain
in glass books labeled with their secret names
till they transform into star butterflies.

While Ziphion strides long winding corridors,
storm of paper masks, stained with lemon juice,
swirl around him till they form new-born books
printed with invisible text of faith
that glows in beams of moonlight in the window
where goldfinches talk shop with butterflies.

When Ziphion stands before mirror of eyes
at far end of the philosophy aisle,
its crystal square does not reflect the viewer
but masked version of his twin doppelganger
who sits under the lemon tree of truth
reading stories to gold-winged cherubim.

Twisted lemon branches form reading desk
of open drawers with miniature theaters
where masked puppets of weird heroic gods
reenact scenes from books banned by the tyrant
who thinks satires depict his enemies
as goldfinches attack him on gold throne.

Climbing the spiral staircase of stacked books
on citrus-tree roots where striped pythons writhe,
Ziphion steps through tunnel of glass masks
pinned to the walls as screaming butterflies
that weep ink in jars Sylvia collects
for children in school to write fairy tales.

surazeus.blogspot.com/2025/05/…

Orpheus visits Sylvia and Ziphion in the library of lemon books to buy masks for his new-born children to wear in the mortal realm.

#Poetry #Poem #Pastoral #Necropastoral #MetaModernism #Transrealism #NewSublimity #NewRomanticism #AmericanDream #Cinemism #Existentialism #Surrealism #NegativeCapability #NewGnosticism #MetaRealism #NewTranscendentalism #Astarism