She will roam,
from coast to coast,
and she will love you,
but like a ghost,
she'll leave without a trace,
and you won't even
be left with a name.

the stillness
of this innocent gloom

of the lanterns silently gazing at the open field, wet,
swaying
as the slow evening whispers, sighs
waiting for the sky to fall back into the sea

I'm sitting here
on the wet wooden stairway
and thinking of you

We all fight our demons… At times, they prevail.
And once we give in, we are fatefully jailed –
By hatred and envy, by lust and ill will,
By malice and greed… Can we bear such a levy?

What happens to us should we rid ourselves
Of the duties, the vows, the commitments we’ve taken?
How long will it take for us to succumb
To the pleasures of flesh and be ever forsaken?
How long till we cry out for help, our tongues
Tied firmly in place by our own repletion?
How long till we see the daylight and admit
There is no going back to relieve our division.

Yet we dream and we hope, and some pray for redemption.
We fight back… And the demons return to the void.
And no fairies exist – not in our dimension.
Yet the demons are real. Hardly can we avoid
The temptations of power, the concoctions of plenty,
And the fight carries on to this day, far and wide.
Every crevice and nook, every palace and shanty
Hold the ones craving nothing but to bask in the light.

19 II 2017