Deep below the surface,
of a sea stormy and frenetic;
lies buried an ancient relict,
once radiant but now pathetic.
It is a long ago sunken ship
the mast and canvas rotten.
The stern revealing injuries,
that are not yet forgotten.
It once carried adventurers,
looking for brand new land;
But now it's decrepit and cursed,
never to reach a strand.
But if you would look closer,
to the shattered and mouldered deck,
you would see the dissembled treasure,
that waits to be found within every wreck.

i’m typing this
as i’m waiting for you to get back
from the bathroom.
in the starbucks
cozy acoustic music is playing
and your mocha frappucino
half empty
is on the table in front of me.
your lips have touched the lid
and i don’t want to be
that person
but i wonder.
i wonder how it feels
does it know that it’s lucky.
can it tell me its secrets
how does it do that?
get you to open up
and let inside the warmth?
i’m not jealous.
just curious.

you should be back any second now.
you might walk out
back to our cliche little table
and ask me
what i’m doing
what i’m typing so furiously
what i’m so passionate about.
i will want to say you.
i love you
right here right now right time right place
i won’t though

maybe i’ll say
“i forgot to finish this paper
that’s due at 11:59 tonight”
or maybe i’ll say
“i just got an urgent email
about my political science class tomorrow”
or maybe i’ll say
“an old elementary school friend
just sent me a Facebook message
and i need to reply”

or.
or maybe i’ll say
“nothing.
nothing more important than our coffee.”
maybe i’ll just close my laptop
mid-sentence
because it’s true.

nothing is more importa

The sun is ablaze
Scorching the fine grains
He trudges through the sand
Counting his steps until his last

His skin is peeling
Flaking away to join the burning powder
The trail he leaves is drenched with blood and sweat
Remnants of a bygone civilisation remind him that he will not make it

The wind picks up
He finds himself in a cloud of unknowing
His eyes are blasted by the remains of his ancestors
His feet are crumbling but he does not realise it until he has fallen

His heart pounds
The ruins around him collapse
The one he hopes to find is long gone
He is blinded by the guilt that this land punishes him with

He is suffering
The dust is clogging the wounds created by his lust
He keeps crawling but exhaustion is getting the better of him
He wants to cry but he is too dehydrated to let the tears go to waste

He is fading
This torture brought upon him is making him forget
He does not know why he brought himself to this land lost in time
But none of that matters now, for he will join the ones who came before him

Waiting for the next to make the same fatal mistake

To find the ones who are lost

Only to join them in the sand

Another grain to punish the next

I will wait
blindly scraping through each day
on skinless knees
clawing through with bloodied fingers
searching for the truth to clench to

I will wait
in the bowels of a twisted mind
bending flickers to shadows
in endless search of the light
that teased with relentless promise

I will wait
for this Hell to freeze my bones brittle
buried in glacial daydreams
of a time that day meant
I could feel the warmth of the sun

I will wait
for the accidental happiness
that covered me like a puddle I fell into
while stumbling through existence
simply drawing breath

I will wait
in jagged darkness for the only reality
that makes sense of this place
for in that union is peace so pure
it washes the universe in light

So, yes, I will wait
an eternity of gaping wounds
bathed in the brine of silence
never giving voice to the grated truth
of the best part of who I am