reflection

Remains

Please, leave me be, while I still can feel free,

To reflect; to reject your poor style

I tried on the shoes; they made me feel used

Yet I’ve still had to walk many miles.

 

Who’ll take the blame for the shit and the shame?

– With the world up in flames, will it matter?

You nurture and prune while denying the gloom,

But the fat of the land won’t get fatter.

 

Is it worth all the risk, where union exists,

to render and tear and divide?

And now with our hearts crushed by fearful old farts

What price will we pay to survive?

 

Left to scavenge and rove like the carrion crow

For what future? What life? What gains?

Brushed aside like dead flies to distrust our own side

And to ponder these awful remains.

 

I wake up today to a world gone insane

And yet,

I remain…

obsidian

Obsidian

Obsidian night, watchful you are –

My alert smile curved, only deserving

Your silent eye; bittersweeting, it

waits for my short circuit:

Here I fall, without relent.

You shroud me, disappear my resolve,

Shard my heart –

But only enough…

…I dream of mossed rest,

Leaves left to frond their own design

around mine.

 

Your flight coils me; unopened

and foetal, I rattle through the roulette of dawn

as he comes

to warp me away from you.

demolition

Forgiven

Hooks in your back I hoist you up
You dangle from the ceiling
– Could, for all I care,
By one toe
Or your neck.

A bottled virus I open,
Blow seeds in your face.
You choke
– Could, for all I care,
On blood
Or your own vomit.

Blades of a butterfly flutter open,
Shining in the swinging light.
I share my tattoo,
Copy it to you
– Channels of blood run deep, bright.

canal

Disjointed

I was in the news today
– did you miss it?
Well, I made the Horror Headlines.
They found my body,
in the river,
in pieces.
My arms
my legs
my hands
my feet
my fingers
my toes
…had all come apart.
I had no teeth
nor eyes in my head,
they said.
I had the letter ten
burnt into my back.
They couldn’t figure that one out
and are currently investigating the matter further.
My coal-silk hair
in a plastic bag
brushed and shiny.
My fingernails, little almond slices,
in a harmonica case.
It’s the only time
I’ve ever been on TV.
I wish you’d seen me in the news.


‘Disjointed’ was published in Issue #4 of Riot Angel magazine, July 2005