MALANOTH
(To Clark Ashton Smith)
by R. O. P.
Where is the ancient hidden sphere
Where Malanoth is king?
What silhouetted towers rear
And on the heavens cling?
Above the wall that shows no gate
The mighty columns loom;
Mysterious wonder incarnate
Where slumbers ancient doom.
Beyond the myriad whirling moons
That circle through the skies—
A place described in evil runes,
The awesome kingdom lies.
And Malanoth, its striped face
Obscure and pondering
Thinks always in that silent place
Of some old, secret thing.