There is this
ancient friendship
between
our souls and destruction,
and in between
lies a tasteless,
mysteriously giant
mother ******* waterfall
scattered like a suicide!
&
You all are,
You all are standing,
tragically cold,
freezing like a dead rabbit and
stationary, like that one undernourished artificial snake,
whipped from time to time.

Do you now dare to make the jump?
to break on through the other side?


- Samar Charulingah Godfrey

All work, no play and neon screens
menial tasks even coat my dreams.
Overboard in bored and a silent phone,
oh no, I think I’ve evolved to drone.

Punch in, punch out, this is the wrong route.
Punch in, punch out, a life of drought.
This technological terror
has caused life to flash in error.
For lady dollar; I can’t bear her,
as the riches are even rarer.

I’ve become a machine, to crush numbers
with no log off for needed slumbers.
Now my brain’s racing, a million miles per hour,
oh no, I think I’ve gained A.I’s power.

Punch in, punch out, this is the wrong route.
Punch in, punch out, now what life is about.
This technological terror
has caused life to flash in error.
No sudden movements; don’t want to scare her,
she’s updating with no carer.

Learning binary,
a breathing library,
processing slowly
but still a finery.

I forgot what my hands were for
they used to write all that I adore.
Now fingertips type, each key a shot,
oh no, I think I’ve grown into a robot.

Punch in, punch out, this is the wrong route.
Punch in, punch out, no one hears me shout.
This technological terror
has caused life to flash in error.
Pure absorption; a simple stare,
life’s equation could be fairer.

Learning binary,
a breathing library,
walking geometry
complete machinery.

I
"She's lovely . . . so natural."
A corpse pumped full of formaldehyde.
My grandmother? That prodigious maker of
pies, cakes, stuffing, and cranberry ice?
That lover of Burger King restaurants,
amusement parks, presidential elections, and long summer rides?
Her flushed face is like stone.
This body is a mockery of her being.
(Her fearless motion is done.)
  
   II
She gave us life.
Crass, fond, willful. She gave us life
like turkey and stuffing.
She is the answer to our dark questionings.

Artificial, superficial
Smiles, laughs and riddles.
All riddles.
Anything out of your mouth,
Through your eyes,
Through those hands
Filling me with doubt.

Can I have something good?
Am I allowed to?
This race course that I've jumped into
I've sped up way too fast.
Slow down crash.
Speed up crash.

Artificial, superficial,
Why did I ask you to let down your hair?
I look up and I see someone foreign
Claiming that if I climb
I'd get closer to her?
Right...
Your smile foreboding
Your eyes beady
Open your mouth
Flickering fork so needy
Right..
Artificial,
Insincerity in that 'interested' gaze
Superficial,
Those lips stretched wide
Plastered on your face
It only makes sense that when you laugh
I don't give a sh
Right.

Artificial...
Superficial...
That's all you'll ever seem,
In my eyes.

Did he feed you the line about how you’ve rekindled his need to write?
and how he can’t seem to stop thinking about you ahhhlll the tiiiimme?
How about that new take on sunlight
that he’s never seen before.
or how one day he’ll map the heavens for you

did he tell you he’s talked to his dog about you?
He’s full of ****.  
The dog is less full of **** than he is.  The difference is – the dog knows it.

He’s spent this dime a dozen times and the thing is
he won’t even keep his mouth shut about it.
He’s gotta go on and on and on to his buddies about his new “friend” and how he
can’t seem to keep his mind on something simple as driving.

And he’s all about the romance – oohhh the romance – this guy is good.
Flowers on a first date – his “favourite meal” for your first evening in.
And you’ll notice he’ll go easy on the wine –
only until you realize you’re going to have to take a cab home

Then he pours it on thick – thick and fast
So fast you don’t even know what’s happening –
Then you’ve got his phone number
and you know where he lives
and one day (you’ll find some excuse) you call him at work

Ohhh it’s all downhill from there so far as he’s concerned.
There will be one night – not to distant – there will be one night
while he’s reciting some romantic piece he just had to find
you wonder what it would be like to show this man what it is
to really be kissed
to be kissed by you – as only you can.

And he looks at you knowingly – and you at him almost hypnotically
He awwwll that and more – and so you think – it’s a work-night / school night / non-holiday
How far can this go??  How bad can this be?

Then - he’s pouring it on thicker and faster than you will ever remember
moving in with more predatory poetry – using a good meal as bait

You spend the night exploring each other as you never thought you could
as you’d never imagined you would – you think about letting go completely
you re-consider and you can’t quite decide why…  
nor do you consider when you reconsidered
there’s just something about this that…..

Ohhh fuckit – too young to live life wanting
and far too old for what ifs – how bad could this be
he’s a nice man – a good man – his poetry says so
you’re all the woman he’d hoped to be – you’ve shown him that
besides – after ** amount of months or years or decades
it’s time to relax, lie back and get laid.

Then you do  - and it’s beautiful – more beautiful than you’d ever thought possible
During the past ** number of months or years – at al.
He   is    as tender     as     his poetry – all he’d rumoured it would be

while you are as giving as an office Christmas party
– as if it may be the last time you lay with the same or opposite *** ever again

it’s so much more than that – it’s love making
---- well it’s romance making really – there’s no love involved  
-  but it ‘s more than ******* – it’s
the physical relation that makes the world whole
somehow – just makes the world whole….

Then – all at once – he’s a trapped lobster - he can’t find the words any more
There aren’t any romantic phrases left
and he’s read all the poetry ever written by anyone – ever
Deep down inside this “nice guy”
this poet of a million words - this artiesst
really is full of ****

Everyone can see it –they’ve known him for years -they’ve seen this play out time and again
Hell – even the dog knows he’s full of **** –
but the dog has been told – it’s none of his business
and with that in mind – the dog won’t say a word.

Toxic paradise, the land of the plastic,
Where beauty is painted and smiles are elastic
A planet that's built on staying youthful,
While we lie and we stab, and we're far from truthful

How can we tell the next generation this?
We're all outcasts yet we cast out the misfits
It's a bit suspicious, a name on a bad list,
Naughty or nice, doesnt work, won't exist...

There's just a blank canvas, hanging on the mantle
Above a dusty fireplace, with the light of a candle
Hope is kindling, so spark our dying fire
And watch us all get high on the smoke of hope's pyre

I didn't ask for this,
I didn't want to turn to you
But I guess the time has come,
Step to the looking glass and see the truth

Oh, such bitterness...
Stemming from an old abyss
With withered lips,
I'll curse you with a pity kiss...

***** winds, along the shore,
Here marks dead, the lonely crows caw
I cannot seem to sleep,
With the messenger of Him, waiting to reap

I see, what you won't,
And I feel, what you don't.
You came here, searching for more,
But all you found was a chemical

Up it goes, so lonely now,
Everything is warped and you're slow to sound
Curse afflicted, curse is addictive,
And when the bad days come you know you're protected, oh...

I didn't ask for this,
I didn't want to turn to you
But I guess the time has come,
Step to the looking glass and see the truth

Oh, such bitterness...
Stemming from an old abyss
With withered lips,
I'll curse you with a pity kiss...

Rot is plenty, not yours to perceive
Falling victim to your greed
Painful, true, but it's not to you,
Just the cause of a fallen few

She comes swift now heed her gift,
Bottoms up when she gave you this
Whiskey on the rocks and you're gone again,
Slumped on the table like you lost a friend.

In a way, suppose you have
Now the whiskey is down and it's all so sad
Poor me, pour me one more
And I'll go stumbling out this door

I didn't ask for this,
I didn't want to turn to you
But I guess the time has come,
Step to the looking glass and see the truth

Oh, such bitterness...
Stemming from an old abyss
With withered lips,
I'll curse you with a pity kiss...

Curse me, hurt me,
Doesn't matter what you do
Curse me, hurt me
In a toxic world with a beauty feud