From the Pyrenees to Inisherin, from Inisherin to Shalem,

emissary of burden, holier than humans – Bel-shar-uzur,

ur-star of those who carry an unkind weight at random,

not because they choose to but because they can do

and do so without breaking – nearly losing hope, almost

all hope, among hostile peaks under an impossibly blue sky;

or as companion to buffoons who can’t let be,

turning their only ally against themselves, wondering

how anyone could possibly play the fiddle without fingers.

What’s the point of heaping woes onto a saddle?

Bray as loudly as you can, Bel-shar-uzur, ur-star,

until the storm-world passes and two ears appear –

Asellus Borealis, Asellus Australis – humility and devotion,

superior to the human beast woeful in its war room.