Cut through to the left ventricle,
Like hot knife through butter,
Spreads through life,
Like internal bleeding.
Open hand incision,
Like a drunk surgeon. Having fun.
Burst through the door,
Like riot police.
Get scared,
Like the man hiding squat in the middle.
Chest heaving,
Like the aorta closing.
Wrap my arms around myself,
Like I could stop the world from rocking.
Scream through the crowd at the stage,
Like my words could pierce the veil.
Stand silent under a streetlight,
Like the only light of the world shines
And I am bewildered- dumbfounded; and helpless and hapless.
Like a moth, staring with brevity into the sun until extinguished.
Wide eyed.
Like stepping on a snail.
Digging into supple skin,
Like nails cling to desperate skin
Sinking with the mess we're in.
Like a razor blade,
Held to the edge of your life,
Like playing games with Lucifer,
Who dances to discords of every defeat; every loss of a smile,
Like a wretch-
Writhing in the dark.
Like the smell and taste of dirt
Can't be confined to the ground.
'Like' is a word ready to topple and roll away;
The truth grasps the scruff of your shirt
Like innocent white cotton clings to your heaving lapel;
Holds your hand long after you're in bed.
Like cheap cologne
On a sailor's neck at port.
Like playing-
Alleviates-
Like elevates-
Above the line of filth,
Like a shaky grab-hand trembling under weight,
While your partner looks on in despair,
Like you are fading away
In your fight with misanthropy,
Like a child shouting into a well:
The words come back, but denser,
Like they scabbed over
In the process of burning away...
Like lightning bursting;
Illuminating Magenta sky.
Like the universe creates itself
To fight death,
Like blue flame fights crimson,
Shades begin to run,
Like creating,
A new colour,
Like conjuring,
From air.
Like God.
I wrote this about a colleague that fell ill. Good woman, hope she gets better, she deserves better.
