Thirty Paper Kingdoms

Thirty paper kingdoms
Inked in blood and stressed in soul
Northern lights that beckon me away
Dance in color around the battlements
Of note and text from book
Squiggles out from rigid line

Troops with eyes forward, shoulders hunched
Feral beasts that snarl at me from within
Their cage
Claws scratching across well-noted lines
Screeching the same calls
Same calls that were screamed before them
Babbling about their shrinking bars
Bars that have been there since consummation

But once their shouts have ceased
Once their eyes have stopped their small shifting
They will slip into monotony
Head bent and claws moving toward oblivion