Paint Me as a Dead Soul

Paint me as a dead soul 
with a halo of black joy 
Medusa in a mirror 
etched out in acid 
the flesh, the image, the reflection 
One who dwells in scarlet darkness 
like animals in palaces 
drawing blood 

The flesh, the image, the reflection 
 [bad word] the illusion 

Paint me as you see me 
from memory or history 
In a fever or a frenzy 
Paint your lucid dreams and visions 
in a chamber of nightmares 
in a temple of locusts 
so violent, vile, and vivid 
May the colors make you fearful 
blind and hypnotizing 
in our subterranean heaven 
Paint my [bad word] with dragonflies 
my eyes as bright as diamonds 
my heart open like an ulcer 
or a sacred crimson rose 
Bathed in blood 
or drowning in my bed 
with the fragrance from the flowers 
in the gardens of the dead 

Paint ghostly foxes, cats and camels 
a red dog and a black dog 
paint a putrid sunset 
in verdigris and violet 
ochre, amber, mauve 

Four monks 
carrying a goat 
over the snows 
to nowhere 
And paint the shades 
 [bad word] with evening 
Peacock angels 
dream of leaving 
Paint me as you see me 
paint me as I see me 
Paint me as a Dead Soul