you hand me
the extra loaf
of bread
and
I devour it
devoid of
thankfulness.
Is this not a meal worthy of the greatest man on Earth?

I am hungry still.

I take your fingers
still wreathed
in dough
and smelling
of hard work
and tradition.
In my mouth
they are but morsels.
Is this not a meal worthy of the greatest man on Earth?

I am hungry still.

I take your daughter;
my teeth and
my nails
penetrate her flesh
and I swell up
with hunger
and desire,
as her body
drips like
hot bread
sunken in
sweet summer wine.
Is this not a feast worthy of the greatest man on Earth?

I am hungry still.

I take your dreams
and grind them up
into dust.
A dust that stains,
a dust that erodes
and oxidates
and rots away
at your future.
Is this not a feast worthy of the greatest man on Earth?

I am hungry still.

I devour your hope,
just like I did
your child,
just like I did
your future.
I turn it all
into rust
and biofilm.
Is this not a feast worthy of the greatest man on Earth?

I am hungry still.

I take your land,
your home,
and the breadcrumbs
of your failing
dignity.
Is this not a meal worthy of the greatest man on Earth?

I hunger still.

I eat the sky,
the sea,
and the mountains
too.
Is this not a meal worthy of the greatest man on Earth?

I hunger still.

I take it all,
for nothing
seems to
fill my gut,
and nothing still
can ease my need.

I hunger still.

I devour the nothingness,
for there is
nothing left
for the greatest man on Earth
to eat.

darling,
it hurts too much
to watch
as you chase
someone else's dream,
as they chase
someone else's dream,
and no one's
chasing their own.

darling,
it hurts too much
to watch
you pass through
the valleys of life,
as the shadows
stretch further
with every step,
and the valley
stretches too.

darling,
it hurts too much
to hear you
say to me,
in that crystalline voice
that warms my heart,
"the only way
is through",
while I stare back
and whisper to you
"the only way
is through".

darling,
it hurts too much
to look up
and face the sunlight
with eyes
that've only
tasted the dark.

darling,
you love
sunlight.

feels like I've laughed through the tears
before anyone said any kind words,
before anyone looked at me,
before anyone remembered a very good joke.

feels like I've swam to shore
before anyone built the lighthouse,
before anyone sailed out to find me,
before anyone noticed I was drowning.

feels like I've wondered the land
before anyone drew the maps,
before anyone loved the skies above,
before anyone spoke the words carried by the wind.

feels like I've loved the sunlight
before anyone felt the roughness of my skin,
before anyone washed away the dirt I carry,
before anyone guessed my name.

feels like I've lived my whole life
before anyone showed me how to breathe,
before anyone told me how to walk,
before anyone reminded my heart what rhythm is.

I'm not dying.
I'm not dead.
Yet I struggle with the sisyphean task
of resuscitating myself with every breath.

I'm not breaking.
I'm not broken.
Yet I must reforge my fractured psyche
upon the hephaestian anvil that is my mind.
With the strikes of the willful hammer,
in the golden fires of my rage,
a weapon fit for Damocles unbreaks.

I'm not losing.
I'm not lost.
Yet I see myself on freedom's deathbed
trying to resuscitate what's left of human kindness.

I'm not stopping.
I've not stopped.
Yet I must push my body and mind
through all these herculian trials
just so
that I may escape this Tartarus.

eyes of rumbling fire
when she looks at me
with that burning desire
I walk the distance
and bathe in flames for a while.

lips of thundering waterfalls
when she beckons to me
with those Parthenopean calls
I swim the distance
and dance in waves for a while.

the way she claims me
and gives herself to me

skin of icy winds and hailstorm
when I look at her
with a thirst to take in her form
she glides the distance
and I drink her in for a while.

hair of dark shadow and stone
when I talk to her
with trembling voice and tone
she strides the distance
and I steady myself for a while.

the way she claims me
and gives herself to me

hands of red and teeth of white
when she kisses me
with a hunger so full of spite
she cuts the distance
and I give myself for a while.

cries of pain and howls of delight
when I kiss her
with an ordinary, yet ravaging bite
I cleave the distance
and she becomes ravished for a while.

the way she claims me
and gives herself to me
leaves no room for the scavengers