You're welcome to examine my thoughts,
Just please don't entertain them;
To do so would be at your own risk.

From the outside looking in,
I can see how you'd be tempted,
But not everything is as it seems.

If you should happen to find yourself
Lost in me, Imprisoned in my dreams,
For your sake, step lightly through my reality.

If by chance you escape, sanity in tact,
Remember, just remember,
It wasn't personal, don't be angry for too long.

Don't be too worried about me,
I'll get along, and be okay in my own way.
And let me thank you for trying to save me from myself.

This labyrinth that is my mind,
It unfolds into what I know is my world
Sometimes my prison, sometimes my escape.

It's always been my reality
The choices are mine to make
But all too often, they end up making me.

I don't at all wish for you to go,
But I understand if it's hard for you to stay
My world can be a frightening place to be.

The writer sits and ponders,
filled with empty silent dread,
‘Sorry, this word cannot be found’
the smug spellchecker says.

Weary of petty complications
he drifts, searching for inspiration,
soaring through the African sky
with glorious, lofty liberation.

The yellow plains stretch far below
herds of buffalo, running free
the lions hide amongst the grass
dotted around sandarac trees.

He soars now, over snow-capped peaks
tableclothed in angry cloud,
by eagles, gliding with their young
their talons stretched in readiness
silhouetted in the fiery sun.

He conjures now, Fijian sand, lazy swaying palms
crashing frothy, roaring waves; silky banana ***.
A sparkling ocean glittering, caked with yellow icing,
just a mirror for the setting sun.

But then wings of grace are stripped and
he plummets towards uncertainty,
falling back to swivel chair, staring
at desk lamps, coffee, burgundy.

The rain drizzles down outside,
the heating pours through well-placed vents
as Chinese Communism awaits:
confronting, mocking, dense.