I
We threw splinters
Of ourselves at the rising sun.
Lost souls exploring the space
Between earth and eternity,
Then took what was left
Rebuilt ourselves anew
From the wreckage of a summer wasted,
Chained to a seaside town
Where ecstasy filled our weeks
With all the colours we possessed;
We inhaled the palette of that town
But we knew, we always knew
It was too small to hold our dreams.
So when the colour faded
From our cheeks, we
Picked poppies as a hobby
Like old people use walkers,
Drowning in isolated fun
Never saw the sun or moon
For the days never bloomed.
Rode the carousel
Listening to our bodies scream
Feeding habits in sneaky toilets;
Long nights kicking sweaty poisoned bullets
Into bare mattresses,
Just to get ill again.
Call. meet. nod. repeat.
Five years up in smoke,
Five years of nothing but
Turning tin foil sheets tar black
Girlfriends disappeared,
Relationships put on hold,
Wish I could have told them
I'd be back one day.
I was just sad, and scared of suicide
So become invisible instead.
But all they saw was a ghost
Squatting in my eyes,
As pale thin skin turned to plasticine
Like a wax work of someone
Nobody ever heard of.
Now, years later
I'm seeing friends
In the faces of strangers,
How I wish I'd known
The last time we said goodbye
There would no more hellos.
Emaciated corpses have grown fat
In semi-detached villages:
No more Hellos.
Some returned back to dust,
Freedom to fly without flesh prison:
No more Hellos.
Those of us who are left,
Watch our teeth grow longer each day
As we keep our beds clean
Dilute blood with new poisons
When mother nature knocks
Or rain clouds slip
Round the neck like a scarf,
Unable to warm hollow bones.
Sallow muscles plead
As I watch dirty faces
Nodding in doorways
Stop, roll two bag notes
Between fingers, then walk on.
I worked hard to runaway
From small town destiny.
Now things are going well.
No comments:
Post a Comment