To a necromancer
                                                            of Nicomedia

                    i. Rome

Do not fear death
          or the debt
          of that with which
          you have been entrusted

wait not for it
          while trouble
          searches for you
          prepare instead a place

of ceremony, make
          it sacred through
          denying
          everything

depriving your
          eyes of love’s
          ever-weeping
          light forever seeking

                    ii. Constantinople

seekers who will
          follow its
          ember’s lure by
          chariot at nightfall

over and through life’s thaw
          knowing you will
          have fulfilled
          heaven’s will when

like dew upon
          dawn’s lips your
          armour under
          distress of a whisper

melts to a mist
          healing with
          a soul’s wet kiss
          a knight’s ribs pierced not by

                    iii. Alexandria

conquest but pilgrimage
          its fortress walls
          a frozen
          continent breath

crawls with anguish
          cowardice
          calling itself
          courage vanquishes, flesh

strips when, with all
          of your bones
          exposed in war
          not for justice but waged

against your Self, in your
          solitude you
          behold hope
          within and throw

                    iv. Antioch

from this circle’s
          altar shapes
          your ego for
          untold eternities

fought providence
          with ceaseless
          fury to let
          possess your body, this

internal enemy
          one turn will rend
          in two, choose
          then your journey’s

route and fortune
          with swift wheels
          will deliver
          you to that truth which for

                    v. Jerusalem

more than its worth
          your pain pays
          trading silence
          for suffering, this quest

impossible for pens
          to reduce to
          quotations
          best expressed when

experienced
          so speak not
          of wisdom won
          unless chosen by hands

unseen to seek
          and to find
          and keep secret
          what a crossroads reveals.