House of the Gods - In Odore Tuo

House of the Gods is, very simply, my weird little cold-gothic prose poetry collection about devotion.

Not necessarily religious devotion. Not exactly romance either. It sits somewhere in between: worship, longing, grief, desire, obsession, and memory.

When does love cross the line toward worship?

The collection is full of altars, temples, smoke, incense, lilies, gods, lovers, ghosts, offerings, and prayers that probably should not have been answered. Sometimes the “beloved” feels like a person. Sometimes they feel like a god. Sometimes they feel like a memory that refused to stay dead. Sometimes even I’m not fully sure, which is part of the fun.

The mood is cold. Misty. Cloudy. Like standing in an abandoned chapel while perfume lingers in the air and something behind the veil is waiting for you to come closer.

A lot of the pieces circle around one question:

What happens when love becomes holy to you?

And then, the follow-up:

What happens when the thing you made holy leaves, changes, dies, answers back, or asks for more?

Some entries stay inside churches and sanctuaries. Others wander into the sea, the underworld, Olympus, hidden thrones, and strange mythic places. But they all belong to the same emotional house. The House of the Gods is wherever longing turns into worship.

Basically, it’s a collection about devotion when it becomes beautiful, dangerous, tender, dramatic, and slightly unhinged. Well, overly unhinged.

This is grief with scent. Love as worship. Devotion in cold weather.

Below is an excerpt of the collection:

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IN ODORE TUO

The smell of abandoned pews,

wood, dust, blood from hands

clasped from long prayers

left unanswered

your scent lingers

like a spectre, soft ethereal hands

touch my skin, soft as feather,

my heart heavy as chains,

i turn to look,

& follow

the whisper of your perfume,

lead me out

below cloudy skies

toward the gardens

of dust covered

white flowers,

find your body among

blossoms,

& i lay trapped in your arms

my senses flooded with the

trace of your scent,

wrap me in silk

caress my body

as you sink your teeth

to drink me

all up.