The bleached mask reflects the words
A new white glow over black hurts
Brooding bones, charred and cracked
Buried with himself between

Thought he could
Learn to shrug some strangers’ names
Off

The skin grows thick
The scales slough
The eyes go blind, the fingers drop
Before he’s had it all
Before he’s had

But aches betray
And masks fall
The smile breaks when teeth are worn
I think he’s had some terrifying thoughts
Would no longer recognise his face at all

Because . . .
Some black eyes never open up
And blue deaths carve a hole no one can fill
The red lust leaves us chilled
Breathless, to temporary emerald pills

Some crimson lips just chew and chew
And violet pupils grow then still
The pale skin tightens its caress
Over awkward bones and burnt out chests

How frighteningly
Cruel
Our capacity
To ****
And ****
And ****