It always starts this way...
you fold a paper airplane
throw it up...watch it fly...swoop
only to crash
"Its like love" he said
turning over in bed
the next time he spoke
he asked for money

"Its like love" I thought...as 
I walked out the door
thinking...nothing is ever like love...
what good is it to compare
what you want....and what is
"nog eentje" I say...and sip beer quickly
it's always so dark over here

one foot then the other...
keep...counting as you...make your...way
across tracks and cobbles
through crowds and rain
one drink too many.....but always too few
a separate issue now
no longer love in question
just lust and hunger for release

"are you alone now" he said
"no...I'm with you"
He reaches for my hand...
I'm reaching for my drink...
we collide and....glass smashes 
to the floor....bleeds red wine

a calm feeling now....after kissing and ***
the smell soothes...yet...creates confusion
an odour of such delight makes one feel...
feel so filthy...."its a necessary evil" he said
and as i close the last shirt button
I say "believe me...it has nothing to do with heaven"

can you tell me
why all these
young girls
with long
beautiful hair
soft luscious cheeks
sumptuous curves
adoration for vegan
virtuous fighters of oppression
woke to the point of irritation
their love for queer
impeccable music taste

can you tell me
why they
drape themselves
in death wraps
secondhand
blood-infused frocks

insidious corpses
stitched together
for what
to keep warm
when it drops to -2

can you tell me
why complacency wins

all appropriate bounds are set
three years have waited their step
may wonder why three years have been 
when subtle hints produce obscene
yet nothing can be made

all conditional wares should be pawned
breeched and crooked are their mouths
and for one second they may thrive
tonight will speed with haste
alone on the other side of tasks

oh...now you see my face
what a length of string may bind
unsheltered wits... that do spring down 
yet...three times the day went round
another shiver has become the tide

unto the side street watching crows
fourteen wind chimes spin for sound
at night the nest might be forgot
the rasping steps of romance calls
the kids play doorbells till the dawn

over each house breach is light
once...for a moment thoughts come forth
from each empty mind as it sleeps
and now breaks its hold
hearts erase themselves as they beat

what a length of string will bind
31 days have passed below
now...13 seconds pass as minutes
the tree tops sway dispelling leaves
to be trampled as men rush home

-Jason Swinehammer-2005