familiar with all weather
broken rims of existence
soliloquies of despair
rainfall in silence

ripples of loud mirth
echoes of joyous feet
stillness of nightly earth
tunes of bitter sweet

romance of blind hearts
oaths of porcelain
stains of leftovers
fragments of bruised skin

lying in broken stones
living on river's face
nothing the ghat owns
but its loneliness.

Venice was a place for sudden ******
a stiletto plunged in velvet
vengeance tied in a knot of silk
piracy on any dark canal
robbery under quiet bridges.

Water laps the crumbling walls
salt hunger creeps up
seeps between stones
worms its way through cedar
settles in the sagging shelves
where old books bound in leather
edged in gold, embossed with crests
are best left well alone.

In these libraries of the lagoon
chapters and paragraphs
sentences and phrases fragment
nouns lay down with their verbs
creating images from metaphors
startling and sublime, but hidden
kept in these word-chambers
they slide away in time.

Each passing month, each day
restless and uneasy
festering in this state of decay
Venice is still
the place of death.


© M.L.Emmett

Depression, for me, has never been the essence of beauty,
it's about cutting too deep like it's your duty,
and staying up until 4am crying your eyes out
feeling too weak to carry on and wanting to scream and shout.
It's about seeking amnesia from the end of bottles after drinking away the pain;
and sometimes it's about attempting suicide time and time again.

at first you were a flicker in the chasm of the skies
just one, amongst many thousands: sparkling, twinkling
but you drew closer and I saw, a curiousness in your eyes

the butterflies you made me feel at first soon flew away
Drowned by the vast earth-shattering waterfalls, that trickle down my spine,
and make our talks taste different every day.
I feel your universe, grows ever nearer mine...

And then: the galaxies collide. How bright we shine!
The stars- so nice together! the nebulae exchange
Their secrets in hushed melodies, you freely rearrange
My constellations. Paths never meant to intertwine,
And yet- your universe, grows ever nearer mine.

But you pass through, you leave my stars,
my constellations. No. Not even gravity would dare confine
Your galaxy, deserving life that’s free of any bars
And yet-where is that universe, that passed so close to mine?!

And I look up, and you’re a flicker in the chasm of the skies,
just one amongst the many thousands: sparkling, twinkling...
as you draw further, I recall infinity I once knew in your eyes.

Don't
place high
hopes on low grounds.

i can't make you love me
and it pains me to admit
no matter how many times
i pleasure you
or touch you
it couldn't possibly help
i despise how obvious it is
that i am constantly savoring
your every kiss
memorizing your lips
and how they fit mine
just right
gazing into your eyes
until everything turns hazel
stroking your rough skin
and learning the landmarks
of your exterior surface
please just stay prisoner
in my bed
just wish i could look into
your mind
to know what you truly think
of me
and us
but how can i expect you
to love me
when i can't even
love myself