she was a doll strung together with elastic
and her skin was of the finest china
smooth, crafted with the highest of care
and not a scratch to disturb her perfection
beneath her porcelain flesh
are bones of malleable gold
soft to the touch
expensive

truly,
she was not just any collector's item.

The glow of orange streetlights
The neons, the stale greys, the ***** whites
The many shades of skin I see
Oh how I love the city

A dreamer's den
And sights to see
The souvenir pens
And skyscrapers so high you can't see the peak

The mix of language
The workers' plight
The late night hours
And the fear of heights

All these one night stands
All these broken hearts
All these underground bands
All the vandalised street art

This concrete jungle
This cement sea
To where my heart belongs
Despite the battles, we don't fight alone
I love the city
I love my home.

i watched the ocean
a remnant of light burning my nape
as i decide to look towards the inky sea
everything shrouded in darkness
yet still, i take it all in
feel the sand beneath my toes
smell the salt in the ocean breeze
and i shiver as frigid waters touch my skin

the waves
pull me in
like a warm embrace

they take me places ive never dreamed of
whispers in my ears

sloshing in my head
swishing in my head
my brain swimming in seawater
turning into seafoam.

a puzzle with one piece missing
i try to find it
i look inside the box it came with
i look underneath my carpets
in between the couch seat cushions
but to no avail
so the puzzle remains
incomplete.

skies of blue and cloudless nights
quiet places and blank minds
feeling tiny, feeling blind
remembering, forgetting, nevermind

missed calls from the unknown
answers for questions of my own
secrets in chambers left alone
the web of lies i have sewn

i'll set it aflame, watch it burn
set it aflame, all things i earned
leave nothing behind, no stone left unturned
these crumbling libraries, these lessons i've learned.

i'll begin again, as i always do
wash it all away, begin anew
open pandora's box, let the chaos spark
i'll leave my name, i'll leave my mark.

the fires told me to run
they shook me from my shoulders
leaving charred handprints on my shirt
they told me to run and never look back
to never spare a single glance
until the sun rises
until it sets
until the world fades to ashes
i wouldn't know where to go, i say
it doesn't matter, they say
run away
run away
run away

and so i did.

the hours sped by like minutes
as my eyes cling to the rising sun
in desperation
for light
and reassurance
that i am indeed awake
breathing
alive.

The angel returned
It had enclosed me in its fiery embrace
And burned through me
With a thousand incendiary gazes
From a thousand eyes
That as if spoke to me whispers I could not hear
In tongues I could not comprehend or understand
But I did not quiver in fear of the flames
As they cradled me in a familiar warmth
Even as the flames grew brighter
And I felt my skin drip off my bones
Into the nothingness below me

The angel disappeared again.

When I blinked, the fires were gone and so were you

And for the longest time
I walked along the shores
Aimlessly
Panting and shoulders heavy
As the sound of the river's currents followed my every step
The coarse dirt and sand felt like a thousand needles pricking the soles of my feet
The black sun rises high in the skies
Sweat rolls down the apples of my cheeks

When I called your name, what echoed back was only my voice
Coarse and rough from exhaustion
From the dust and smoke that choked me
When the fires began to burn

I shut my tired eyes
And I try to imagine your face
But all I see is the smokey sillhouette
You left behind

I wandered and wandered
And with each aching step,
My knees shake like jelly
Weak, as they buckled
In the corner of my eye I see Charon's boat
His tall looming figure clutching the handle of a paddle
Hunched over, murmuring
As his eyes follow me like the currents of the river
All knowing
I felt transparent
And they were the last things I saw
Before my face met the ground
With a thud.









I rise to the sound of rushing water

My eyes flutter open
To see nothing but a grey haze
I lay
Unmoving
As water drifts my motionless body in gentle currents
And when shore hits my back
I stand
The blades of grass tickling my skin
Prickling my flesh

Where am I?

And I see it
The outline of a figure
Walking through the fog
Sitting atop a jagged rock's edge
As the sun peaked through
Its thick wall of clouds

And it's beautiful

It almost looked like you.

the trees sway with the gentle afternoon breeze
as the hot day ticks by
the familiar whirr of a car zooms through an empty street
as joggers jog along the lonely pavement
stray cats hiss and scratch
a dog wanders alone
the busy life i once lived through
seems like a blurred dream
but this is a season finale
and a long, stretched out hiatus of some sort
and soon the next episode will start
soon.