Neither of Alhazred's companions,
Not Mouli nor Ismail;
Seemed able to sense the utter
And horrible alienage
Of the nameless city.

For to such as them a ruin was but a ruin
And a stone stone however many aeons ago.
This pleased Alhazred,
For he found it comforting,
And he cursed his own imagination that
Painted horrors where horrors were not found...
© The Mad Prophetess