Consuming devastation
as if it's life-giving bread
Flesh, a merciless master
Ineffectual thoughts sway my head

With each indulgence
the captor becomes more emboldened
Betraying the true master
to whom I'm beholden

Surrender comes easier
with each new concession
Just one more link
in the chain of spiritual recession

Slaking every desire
as the senses grow cold
While the battle rages
between body and soul

One will be nurtured
the other put under thumb
Sin is spiritual Novocain
just making me numb

They become names
Like the rims of baked-bean tins
That have to be handled with care

They are a bunch of flowers
Tied to a lamppost
Or a bench with words carved in

They are a Wikipedia page
Or a library shelf
Or a nothing
A nobody

They swell into memories
Wilted and swimming like wax
They seem to be stood there
When the sunlight blusters
Over dust
Because dust is just dead cells
That we all inhale
Exhale
Like we’ll choke them back into existence

They reside in half-empty
Boxes of tissues
Cigarette packets
The bubbles in lemonade

They become a mantelpiece of photographs
And sympathy cards
Broken toys
Empty T-shirts that you’ll try to turn into puppets
Sat in their wardrobe

They fall into certain songs
Certain car journeys
Occasionally they borrow your tongue
To continue voicing certain phrases
Certain people
Certain places
Certain rooms
Certain tastes
Certain seasons
Certain sunsets

Or maybe they just toss and turn
Beneath the church built of handkerchiefs
Like commuters coffined into underground trains
Wondering whether they can still believe
In tunnels
And golden lights.

.

I found the sun
in a peppermint sky
wrapped in tin foil laughs,
it was wandering by

It looked down at me
and it noticed my frown
painted just like a smile
but it sat upside down

It called me by name
and it asked "why so blue,
when you know that dark green
is my favorite too"

I made an excuse
out of lily pad streams,
telling him I was fine,
but I know how it seems

Then he pointed a ray
that fell bright on my heart,
telling me that the truth
was a great place to start

"Ok, I will tell you
but listen quite clear
I am walking alone
because she isn't here"

He then turned to a page
in his sun dial book
and said, "She's right behind you,
go on take a look"

I spun and I saw her,
her beauty now shone
Like my friend overhead,
I was not all alone

"She loves you," he whispered
so soft on a beam
I hugged her and kissed her,
it felt like a dream

We sat on a hill
and looked over the land
and I somehow believed
this was part of his plan

We watched as he moved
like a gem through the skies,
and bid him farewell
till tomorrow's sunrise

Then promised each other
we would always be one,
whether cloudy or rainy
or beneath the sun

Still I miss my old friend,
as this day turns to night
But I'm here with my love
and my whole world is bright