Perpetual Slumber
In a little while I’ll be waking under my duvet,
Rubbing my face with air – condition chilled hands,
Checking the time with one eye shut
And twisting the button of my alarm clock
With the fingers of my invisible hand,
Looking for a way I can steer the night back.
It seems I have the “hate – to – wake – up” disease
Again, an outbreak of that plague
Celebrated by the cracked lips
And dry breath of a thousand dreamless dreams –
About a tangerine griffin and aluminum table tops,
A sunset and a bottle of cabernet sauvignon.
It’s the kind of conceptual delusion
That makes your reflection into strangers,
That makes tawny cushions look like Rip van Winkle
With pomegranate seeds. With Robin’s Nest Blue
Easter eggs for ears and a hat shaped like a conical lamp
Pointing to the sky.
In a little while the duvet will
Almost have me convinced,
That I am dreaming something eccentric,
Something to do with “inspiration” and “imagination”
Instead of flight and fright into
A nightmare so deep,
It has no floor,
Only signs that tell you what direction
You are dreaming to: FANTASY, REALITY,
HORROR, COMEDY – Can you see me,
Can you see me pushing past?
With my head up on the pillow
Between the sandman and a fellow
I am decided –
Decided that the desire to slumber
Is far, far stronger than the desire to arise.
Fast Lane
Sleeping pills on the bottom of the floor
And newspaper clippings lie rotting on the desk
The kettle is shrieking
It’s three a.m.
And the cold sweat of insomnia runs to the hem of my shirt
Bloodshot eyes lay staring back
On the edge of the rusted mirror on the bathroom ceiling
Glistening like the powder of crystal meth
I’m spiraling down on habits
But it all doesn’t matter
I can’t keep on like this
None of us were humans in the first place
There’s no need to pretend anymore.
Foolish
You’re foolish
Make up your mind
Come to me, cry on me
So I can say goodbye.
You love me,
Come fight me.
Make up your mind.
Don’t cry for me
Don’t be silly.
Make up your mind.
Parallel
It Stung
Blessedly cold,
Goosebumps rode my skin
Till there was not a smooth patch left
Sitting,
Lying on the rail deck
With the world overhead
I think of you
And wish you were beside me –
In that instance,
My parallel worlds collided
And you were…
You were lying right beside me.
Caressing my skin,
Blowing butterflies on my cheek
Till I was rendered silent,
Gazing into your eyes.
I close my own,
Aimed my heart above the cloud’s horizon
To fade on that line
Where twilight sky kisses the ocean floor
And to smile,
Because there’s no one else
I’d rather be with.
Sea Monkeys
From the crags of the woody pier planks
Looks up,
Curious brown faces.
Their everyday balances
On the sights and sounds of the nosy, noisy fishing wharf.
Come daylight parade like peacocks
Running to and fro
Swimming, jumping about
Frolicking under the browbeating sun
Eye – lighting a passenger crowd
They turn tricks and dance
Reduced to show monkeys
Sea monkeys on deck
Whose little brown curious faces
Dots the pierline shore
Such is entertainment in the Port Culasi
Whose boundary meets the rim of the sea
Where children,
Curious little brown faces –
Sea monkeys
Pop up and dance
Like animals in a circus.
Lighthouse
4 turns
360° revolution
Standing north by northwest
40,000 m above sea level
On vertical and craggy
Mildew – colored rocks
15 story levels
Octagonal in shape
The lighthouse is alone
Blinking its salvation
… And yearning.
Top
Strong wind,
Hurricane.
Full moon,
Enchanting.
Standing starboard on the bridge railing,
I drop…
Flying on top of the world.
Cursing Stars
You broke my heart to pieces
Yet still I turned away
It was only when the girls called me: “Idiot”
That I finally realized I was,
For still hanging over you.
There was nothing between us
Everyone knew but the people involved
They made a story out of it too, I’d say
Whispering in the hall, no;
They all but looked away.
I had to face the fact
That you never cared at all
That all those words once you said
Were nothing, nothing but lies…
I can see them in people’s eyes.
So I hung my head
And washed away my salty tears
It took me long, it took me hard
But I did… I fought and I did.
And I was alright.
I didn’t curse, I didn’t cry
Just picked up things and said goodbye
I never thought I’d see the day
When you’d ever cross my way again
If only to apologize.
I wanted to stay strong
But I broke. You broke me.
But I promised, and I’ll stick to it
I’m not going back to cursing stars
Just because of you.
Stranger
I wish you were a stranger
Then I wouldn’t bleed so much
Every time I see you
Or cry, every time I touch you.
I wish you were a stranger
At least then
I could pretend that you were never there,
Instead of it being a reality.
Show
Curtain call in three minutes
And the crew is all set
The stage is decked in bows of tears
And conspiracy and laughter
Voices loud enough, cacophonies to the balcony
And the faux diamond encrusted chandelier
The star weeps backstage
Curled up in a ball
Behind the crimson draperies
Crying, moaning
And nobody hears.
Her body is weak, skeleton and broken
With bones through her skin
And the remnants of make up on her face
Her costume of innocence
Garbed in the pink frilly dress of a young girl,
Carefree and blooming
Has been crumpled to discontinuity
And is strewn through with grime,
Dust, mud.
And yet she sits
And cries
And weeps
Her body broken,
Her soul torn.
Eyes closed
And still for a moment
The moment,
She disappears.
World unfocused
She disconnects, let go and wild free
Then comes back crashing down
To the disparaging lines and circles of the earth
To the loud sounds of the crew backstage
The buzzing of the crowd outside waiting for its star
To the show and the three minute time till curtain call
To the show that must always go on.
The Wall of Jericho 