The Inversion

The hourglass narrows—
time’s throat swallows lies.
Blame buckles. The false algebra
of the many fractures in the fire of one.

The cursed, the castaway,
rises—unburned, whole.
While the crowd, toothless, trembling,
becomes the venom it once spat.

This is the law the stars inscribed:
the stone they cast aside
becomes the cornerstone.