The hottest day on record

for the past 90 years

and still they made it rain in winterland again. 

Forty thousand domestic lawn sprinklers

being fed by the same hose

then they heat the water into steam

and blast the atmosphere with the world’s most

obnoxious sounding air conditioner

the cooling unit being powered by its own

nuclear power plant and protected by an international

coalition of aces, famous, feared, and

benamed The Aces of Winterland

The story goes that they were never born

and can never die

they have no eyes, yet see everything

they have no hearts, walk, sleep, pulse in silence

cannot be seen, yet are always present

cannot be heard over the roar of the AC

The Aces of Winterland hover over the sick in the ICU

and appear shining and brilliant in the child’s fever dream

the terror and awe no devil can evade

from the icy hands of the Aces of Winterland

from the fulfillment of wrath o’re the Aces’ cold band

The multitude was revealed

As vultures follow each other to carrion

blathering and foaming

diseased, incessant, pestilent

as such one Ace there was and will always be

penetrating land, flesh, time, sea, fire, light, and all of heaven and earth

such is the realm of winterland

falling all heavy with stones in their gut

tearing out each other’s hearts on the long decent

bickering with horrible screeches

Enveloped by the sound of Air conditioning in totality

rank feathers dripping with rot falling to the rocks

the Aces’ frozen feet creeping, breath blowing

burning ice so far below any comprehensible temperature

Their bodies solidified and on fire simultaneously

The earth opened up as if to swallow

but never caught any of the multitude

they fall still through time and space and eternity

frozen and on fire for all of the days and nights they are lost

And the Aces of Winterland have long forgotten them

and the Earth does not remind Heaven because there is no need.