#66

The disease of you
Spreads silently
Like a vine
Around my neck
And your
flowers
Touch no skin

#67

If I tied my life
To a fallen tree
If I died like the moon
By the sea
If I sang some songs of wisdom
Would you still carry me?
But little did you know
Little did I see, there are
Secrets behind your ear
And your regrets make a sea.

#68

Your endless legs
Forever eyes
Many fingers sprouting forth
From your
Countless hands
And your hair
Wild, in
The wind, blowing
Dancing
With your hourglass
Where the sands have frozen
Is far too little
For my misshapen feet
These crooked hands
My wandering eyes, my
Troubled heart
My mistaken mind
And the ticking clock
Of my hairline
All I have
Are words.

#69

Sure
Your irony is spot on
And words are
Your playthings
The gyre has come undone
Mere sarcasm is
Loose upon the world
For you
Give it all for
Other playthings that
Don't lose their sheen
Because
"What shines, sells"
And
"Glow and be noticed"
Are the bellowing horns
Of the 21st century
That drown out
Your sound
But
I don't believe
In flashing lights
In make up
Made up face
In a semblance of you
They only see
But not know
I don't care for
You devoid of tricks
And mystery
If you're not the
same underneath
In photographs
In autographs
I'd rather have
Something of yours
Something you
You.

#70

So you try and pick
Your brain
And you start a war
To shame us
You yearn for eyes so bad
You'll buy a blue
Raincoat
Just to make it famous

#71

Love was like a lesson
I never learnt
Love was like a candle
She sent for me to burn

Quietly she departed
Quietly she prayed
Silent, she walkedSilent she lay

Love was like a lesson
I never learnt
Love was just a table
left for me to turn

#72

Bid farewell
To directions of chalk
On the maps we found
Goodbye to
Her face that lures
And lies still
With no semblance
Of a smile
Or a frown

#73

"Son,"
"Do I have your attention?"
"Father,"
"Do I have you?"

#74

Dirty joke
And the world goes
For a spin
All fingers point to
The contrary
The opposite of you
The sea inside, calm
The storm, raging
For a minute
And the creatures
Hiding
Behind the structures
of man
In your mind
But no one and
Nothing
is a mirror
For your smiling eyes
I'd rather look at
Your face when you laugh

#75

Wake up the mannequins
The time is ripe for words
Time to kill the silence
With ink
Time to walk
And douse these blank
Pages with blood
Spilled in the middle of the
Night, full moon, owl's gaze
Dogs howling
Amongst sounds of scribbling
Amplified
By the candle burning
At both ends
Your house, on fire
The waves rising
Your mind,
Awake.

#76

It fascinates me
How a black pencil
And powder
Blurs out the edges
Of you
And how
Using brushes
And borrowed gloss
And sparkle
You keep the chisel
Sharp and blunt
And the hammer
Is struck with vengeance
To thaw all naysayers
And wrong wishers
Your youth, fading
Into a perfect circle
And you keep erasing
Till you remove
Yourself
And then it becomes
Clear, like your second
Skin, ironed out
Spread like a brand
New carpet
How easy it is
For you to brush
Aside, like a crooked jigsaw
Piece, a tiny
Flake
That seems
Out of place

#77

I open my eyes
And appear
Laughing
Into the world
Whimpers aside
The truth is
The world ends
With silence.
Silence of action, the waves
That never simmer
The silence of love
Of wanting and wanting
The silence of sight
Silence in your eyes
So I close my eyes
And disappear.

#78

The endless wheel
Turns and
Whirrs, spins
Repeats
And is born again

#79

Your first name
Is free
You don't even know
The meaning of
A bird or have wings
Or utter poetry
In the dark of the night
Like your name
Your aunt's cousin thought
Sounded 'aspirational'
The second one
Is a joke
Found written
On your school bathroom
Walls, on hard concrete
Etched at the back
Of desks and chairs
The one you can't erase
So you learn to live
With the same
The third is the one
You borrow
From someone much better
With a broader chest
Or better hair
And the smile that no
One forgets
Fourth is the one you believe in
Like a bad haircut
Or nipple piercings
Or a colourful tattoo
From a comic book
You read when you were 16
Others chime
'It's just a phase'
Fifth is a cage
You craft
And you stay in till
Your bones give way
Till age withers
And cracks, till you
Finally lose words
And letters
And meanings
Of all the people
And all the places
You used to be
Of all the names
You once had

#80

The winds carry us
Through lands whose name
We learn to pronounce
Thanks to a tattered book
With the cover of a man
On a hammock with a straw hat
We bought second hand
From a store we never visit
But we were pulled
By the hope
That one day we shall
Find ourselves
In a place where people
Wouldn't know
our name

#81

I've held you captive
On a page too long
So take my words
And go
I'll find my way through
Your mind's deserted streets
Places I can't touch
and know

It’s been ten years
But I found a home
In a town I thought was wrong
The rain will wash my dirty feet
And I'll keep singing my song

#82

I've stopped
Requesting
Wanting
Needing
Anger is a gift
They said
But pain is a privilege
And so is sadness
For those who can still
Afford to feel
And when the time is
Right
Choose to kneel
So when you say
It sparks nothing
When you say my arms
Are no shelter
Bereft of comfort
And my feet are more worn
And weary than the eyes
And the mouth that
Gave you away
You have only
Yourself
To blame

#83

Your eyes have a fire
You cauterise the sun
Your words only pierce the flag I wave
Your mouth, the barrel of a gun

#84

If levitation
Is a crime
You won't catch
Me flying
But if walking
Is proof
Being grounded
Has its use
Come on over
I'll rhyme a step
Or two
With you

#85

Trying to write myself
On a page
But the arrows in
Her eyes keep
Me glued to
A mirror forgotten
A reflection, lost
The wine, spilled
Through these lines