Impassioned

it's easy to give in to a dispassionate tomorrowwhen weapons of war are unshelled like musselsand bright-eyed coral creatures make their hidden homes in bottle caps.it's easy to assure yourself there's nothing to be done."this is the way the world works," the doubters say,with silent smiling smirks and pockets overstuffed with excuses, unwilling to believe.the … Continue reading Impassioned

Universal

early morning: waking, yawning, stretching,coffee-making, breakfast-eating, masking, leaving.walking, talking, rushing, catching,riding, standing, swaying, leaning.greeting, working, boring meeting,day-dreaming, typing, stopping, fleeing.walking, texting, rushing, catching,riding, sitting, nodding, sleeping.shaking, waking, startling feeling.finding, running, navigating.asking, speaking, showing, reaching.crowding, gathering, standing, seeing.shouting, chanting, hearing, being.standing, arms-raising, pleading.sign-carrying, screaming, no-one listening,solemn leaving, walking, whispering.taxi-hailing, wondering, feeling.home, sitting, breathing, thinking.laying, sleeping, snoring, … Continue reading Universal

Toxicity

The dust in the air is visible from the slivers of light shining from the glass knobon the door to your room. You sit quietly, facing those double doorsleading out to the front yard, thinking.What do you think about? Is it your noxious perfume,subterranean mushrooms puffing clouds of toxic gas?Is it the smoke from the … Continue reading Toxicity

Beggar

There's an icy rage inside of me. It's not a white-hot rage, boiling over, kicking in the door and setting fire to your curtains. It's a cold, vengeful rage. "I know what you've done," it says, and it glares at you with glacier-blue eyes and a throat of glass, condensation dripping down its steely cheek. … Continue reading Beggar

Dereality

Break slowly, as if the pain in your temple hasn’t crippled you yet,and your spirit endures softly still, whispering haunting sorrowswhile you pour your coffee or walk up the stairs in the morning.Pretend you’re not listening. Tell yourself it’s a lie and that you aren’t a burden,or that everything will be fine isn’t just an … Continue reading Dereality

Hanuman

I think when I was younger I tried to eat the sun.The gods, fearing for the star, punished my greed.I’ve been struck by lightning, my body disfigured,My jaw broken so I cannot protest,And my air scooped from my shaky lungs.I didn’t know it was a sin—no one told me it was.What kind of being has … Continue reading Hanuman

Envy

I am not stone, and neither am I holy.There are mistakes carved into my flesh that cannot be.I am cast out of the paradisiacal realms, forbidden to dream of somewhere better for a beastWhose body and soul do not match, whose broken muscles pulse sweat onto its unwieldy skin,Whose heartaches cannot be quantified by man.You … Continue reading Envy