Leaden clouds sweep swiftly in from the north,  
Blanketing the sapphire skies in melancholy.  
Deafening, rolling thunder cracks  
As a mysterious chill sends a shudder up my spine.  

A faint knock rasps at my front door;  
Whispers circulate, ringing through my walls,  
Echoing my name ever so sinisterly.  

For twenty and twenty years, I have been happily discontent,  
Freezing my sins in lovely seclusion.  
Now, a dank darkness drapes this dilapidated sanctuary.  

Peering out the curtains, I see death's arrival—  
Ruby red roses in my formerly lush garden  
Crumbling to ash, fading into the earth.  

Elongated fingers peek through the dubious haze.  
A cackling booms.  

To my right stands an ornate Victorian mirror.  
Turning my head, I can see the flames of Hell rage.  
What was once just a plane of glass  
Has now become a beckoning portal.  

Without hesitation, I rip it off the wall,  
Smashing the omen, trying to escape an unfathomable fate.  
Within seconds, it's fully reconstructed,  
Signaling there is no reprieve.

They taught us to dissect frogs,
but not the feeling of being dissected.
We memorized the bones of empires,
but no one named the fracture in our own spines.

We wake up with hearts in our throats,
trap ourselves in flickering cages,
Pout like mannequins  in group shots.
We google "how to disappear"
between lectures on resilience.
We draft essays on survival ,
while planning exits.
We smile at teachers who praise
our punctuality while we
count pills under the desk.


The counselor called us in one by one,
handed us pamphlets
with smiling cartoon brains.
Just ticked boxes
and sent us back to class
with a sticker that said “brave.”
which curled by noon.

When the windows whispered
and the knives called us by name,
they called it depression.
It wasn't.
It was syllabus.
We were just doing the homework.

We were young,
no accident,
brittle are branches
snapping
of fragility.
They say,
there's blood
in a tree's bark...
And the pain comes,
with chopping
of the wood.
We can't be blamed
for loss of innocence
to the grey swirly
of constant clouds,
watching us
since we were
knee hide,
delivering
fore-boding
nightmares.....

Its easy to dance through
when the hole has broken whole,
I'm shiny holding a fish's tank
nothing rusty but winding the crank.
I can't be the cracked whole of you,
bad enough a demon sold his soul,
I wish for a warmth of fiery coal
but his number is upon my coat
and his grips are throttling throat.
It so easy to be so dizzy so soon
when I feel the thunder upon noon.
Upon the sleep, no-one to weep,
but how many trip wires to sweep,
as the combatants shall creep......
In the ocean, surprising my fleet.

I had a dream about you
It wasn't sad, it wasn't joyful
It wasn't even blue

Oddly I dreamt of you as villian
Hands around my brother's neck
Eyes full of cruel intent

Though the nightmare left me shaken
I'd rather dream of you again
Than be rudely awaken

The blue....
lagoon specters
and the lonely clue.
Mystery fire-works
lust in shadowy sin
by the pool side,
leaves the water bled
table side wine
impeccable glasses
fine drops of attraction.