Let us talk as we walk, you and I, come let us at least try,
Hold my hand as you blink at the barren sky,
Tears trickle by and I hear you sigh, “Lies,
I only see lies in these stale blue skies!”
It is a sign, my love, it is a sign that we are doomed to die.

The wild world spins while we drink green glassy gin,
Alone, all alone we sit in shadows of candles and waxy sin,
Around about us we hear the sounds of pain, a fearful din,
Orphans with wide-open mouths spit out rusty razor pins
Which strike true into our wavering hearts, (“Darling, can we ever really win?”).

Your ruby wet white lips drip with the salty saliva of sweet love,
You ask me the eternal question: “Will we fly to heaven like doves?
Let us fly, you and I, to the velvet skies above!”
Yet still I see your cherry stained lips caress a rough cigarette and away you puff,
Darling, the likes of us shall forever remain imprisoned as we are conditioned to spit and cough.

In the hot horizon a hulking hawk takes frightful fanciful flight,
Helpless and heartbroken, we play with our false paper kites,
Skeletal darkness ravishes the earth, no more will come the light,
The right arm of justice lays rotten and by it burns the sword of might,
It will strike and bite both me and you, and all those who are upright.

Once again you whisper hungrily, “What will become of me and you?
Is there anything we can seriously do before we are subdued?”
I say we all hope and pray today and together we stay or else we are surely doomed,
Gloom will come soon, you see Darling there is not enough world to spare or share in this here room,
Let us all awake and break out of this cocoon for we shall never change our heart’s true tune.



©Rangzeb Hussain

Hellhounds!* Who be this stranger?
Here she dreams upon my pillow,
I slide away out of range,
Spaces between us sheets weeping willows.

Staring down at shouted words escaping through barred teeth,
She, unknown malice, hissed sparks,
Upon my bed I see a sleeping leech,
Her skin so silvery filled with shady dark.

I reach over confused and touch her shoulder,
Know not I who this creature be?
Flashes explode, memories and desires colder,
****** lady! I fear I may know thee!

Peering closer still, I witness a face on her slender neck,
Biting softly the flesh of arguments,
Distances separate short spaces, we two are shackled
By more than mere blankets and entwined garments.

Fingers heavily encircled with golden evidence,
Pregnant spite spirals spoonfuls of fire,
Her reptilian eye flutters, I crawl back with revulsion,
Accusations, pointed fists, secrets buried, she’s a fiery liar.

I don’t recognize the bloated face,
She turns over, stares balefully and clenches with disgust,
God, she reads me, I’m a shadow without trace,
I’m alone, a child hunting for tattered trust.

Finally the nightmare reaches a foggy ******,
I see the familiar blade furrows in her spidery hair,
Falling into the damp smell of the pillow I relax,
She’s my wife, a solitary maid my mind will never share.



©Rangzeb Hussain