Bud

They’re my favourite.
Like eating blueberries
In a quiet park,
Watching fireworks.

Their body is painted,
And the colours seep out
Into the air around them.

They say I’m amazing,
They respect who I want to be,
They see me as the person
I want to become.

They feel like
The soothing drops of rain
Crashing down on me,
Enveloping me,
Bringing out the smells
Of the plants around me.

They are wild
In a calm way.
They let me keep my freedom
And I want them to have all the love
People want to give them

At the end of the day
We understand each other,
We laugh together,
And we hold each other tighter
Than I’ve ever been held
Before

 

Ghost in real life

It’s been a year.
I keep getting dragged back though.
To that old house,
It’s like it’s haunted,
And I’m the ghost.

It’s cold
All the time,
The windows and doors
Are all open,
But I can’t leave

It’s a dusty old house
Darkened by the smoke
And the passage of time
I can almost
Feel it flinch
With the passing cars

I’m all alone this time,
It’s not what’s there
That haunts me,
It’s what isn’t

You left me there
And I needed you
To come back,
But you
Didn’t

And now
I’ve become a ghost
Forever
Waiting
For our lost time.

I’m scared
To make a sound
What if you knew?
Could you forgive yourself?
I
Just want to
Leave

I sit alone
And cry at night
On the tiled floor.
A wild cat passes right through me.
The Sun never reaches my skin.

Wherever I am
I am here
Lost
In a place I know
Too well

 

One Way Problem

A flightless bird in a cage, high above the ground, “If you want to leave” they said “just take the key”. I looked around at the tight walls around me, then down into the void below. “I have nowhere to go” I replied, “how can I leave?”
“That’s not my problem” they answered, “you only said you needed to leave, I’m only stating you can, don’t think I’ll help you, that’s not real freedom, so figure it out”.

I sat in the dark for a long time, my muscles atrophying from the lack of space to move around. Then I started to formulate a plan; like Daedalus I slowly gathered feathers from the birds around me, I worked to get enough materials to scrounge up what I would need for my age-old invention. If I couldn’t be aided by those who were supposed to help me I’d find my own way out, before the air got so thin that I would suffocate. I was only missing one thing: a stable ground to land on.

I slowly tested my new wings, in relative secret, landing on rickety platforms before coming back to base. I got quite good at flying and the clean air outside made me a little stronger to endure the cage. Then one day I was offered a more stable landing ground, just as my cage ran out of air.

I flew away as the cage crumbled behind me.

All I wanted was to be free. But some chains still cling to me, bashing into my ribs as I flap my wings.

I just want to be free.

 

Dark

I’m lost.
It’s so dark here.
I can’t see a thing.

Am I falling?

Are you there?

Can you see me?

I’m so scared to call out.
I’m scared I’ll bother.
I’ll be labeled crazy.
You’ll leave me.
I’m more scared that no-one will answer.

Maybe you’ve already left.
Quietly.

Won’t you reach out?
I don’t need much.
Touch my shoulder.
Hold my hand.

If you’re up to it
Can you hold me?

I feel so alone.

Won’t you hold my hand
And tell me
I’m not

 

Third Eye

I’d rubbed my wrist so nervously that I’d breached the skin. The barrier keeping the “me” separate from the outside world. Wisps of darkness were seeping out. Bubbles crept out and up to join the sky, ushering back the night. It was like a story begging to get out. An unsung poem. It was an ode to destruction that I’d struggled to keep inside for so long. A knot of lies and deception unravelling. A beat from the depths of tartarus escaping. Badum. Badum.

I blinked… and in that space I only saw a raw sliver of whatever sits under the first layer of skin. But I could still feel the darkness hiding in my peripheral vision. Narrowing my mind. Seeking to hide the escape routes. Letting me rot. The doubt festering. The irresistable feeling of falling.

 

Puppet

You thought you would try a new thing.
Puppet master.
You took some basic materials,
Thread, cheap wood and a tin heart.
It was all you could afford.

You fashioned a puppet,
From what you saw in the streets,
In magazines,
The puppet became another reflection
Of the outside world.
Like so many others before it.

As you played with the strings
A wind stirred up from inside.
A new force started appearing,
Moving the puppet when you were away,
Trying to halt
Some of your actions.

You watched your puppet grow,
Never giving it “too much” freedom.
After all you had created it.
It belonged to you.

Rust started to form
On its tin heart,
The wood started to creak.
You had not built it to last.
You did not know how to.
You did not even see
It was falling apart.

Master I wanted to make you smile,
I only felt alive when I saw joy spreading out.
Tell me master
Why is there so much pain?
Why is it the easiest thing
For me to feel?
Master, am I dying?
Is this what death feels like?

I am afraid,
My body aches,
My heart is in pieces,
I do not know how to fix it,
You never left me the tools,
You have become cold,
I struggle to find warmth

I realise now how alone I am.

My strings are falling loose.
I am falling.
I wish I could go back into the forest,
To be a tree again.
You and so many others
Would not have it.
I see your tears in my dreams.

I move so that you will not cry.
I seldom see you laugh
Like you once did.
I have failed you master…

 

Have another one

A burning feeling in my throat,
The flames reaching up
Licking the sides of my head
Until everything gets blurry.

Falling,
Trying to catch the fading notes
Of a fleeting symphony.

It’s beautiful,
For a moment.

The heat numbs the pain and
Clouds my mind in a different way,
Like blue skies seen
From under the sea

 

Gravity

You were beautiful and broken
And I wanted to help fix you

You came at me like a meteorite
Blinding me

I watched you move away from me
With blood on your hands

I watched the hole in my chest bleed
Not knowing how to fix it

But I couldn’t completely get away
From the attraction

Now I can’t help myself from orbiting around
you
Just far enough to be alone

Untouched
Unreacheable

Close enough for small pieces of me
To fall into you

Helping you not collapse
While I become more hollow

I’m scared one day you’ll fall into me
And I’ll swallow you whole

So I keep you
Just a little bit further

 

Stasis

The world spinning like a hurricane
It’s quiet in the centre

I can feel its destruction all around

I’d like to get to the other side
…to get to you

I know the world will tear me apart
Before I even get to
Touch your skin

Before I get to tell you…

The storm whisks my unsure words away

It is a cacophony
Of deafening silence
Where anything meaningful
Will be lost forever

Do not speak

Else you lose the thing
You wished
To grasp

Today is not the day
Not the week
Not the time

When this is all over
Headless bodies will run accross
The ruins of the old world
Knowing the farther they get
The more havoc they wreak

And they would do it all for a shred of light
A piece of hope
A touch of skin

Before we are all plunged
Into the darkness
Again

 

Looking for air

Before the plan had finished being formulated in my mind I’d taken my headphones and a bag, I was reaching for a mask when my mother asked where I was going. I jumped, and said “to the shops”, it wasn’t a lie, so far that was all I’d planned.
I left and I knew it wasn’t supposed to be warm but my body was burning and the outside air was barely helping.
At the shops I looked at the beer, wondering if I wouldn’t be better drunk. I decided against it as I already felt like I’d drunk two bottles, I looked without seeing. I could feel, far away, a certain anger and irritation. I took a can of cherry coke, that I’d asked my Mum to buy but, like most other things I said, it had been discarded. I supposed I deserved it.


I passed my street and kept going into the forest. I sat at a bench, lulled by my music. I drank my can, it had a bitter taste, it felt metallic, like warm blood. I wished I could spend my life outside. I missed the mountains and the fresh air. I was tired of spending my days wasting away inside. I was losing touch with reality. And I didn’t know what to do about it. The only thing that could anchor me at all was music. My friends were so far away and uncommunicative. I didn’t blame them, I was no better.


I let the music take over my mind. I started to walk home.


I stopped on a dead tree. I read messages from a conversation people were having without me. I felt like an outsider watching the world go by.


I don’t know where this is going but I’m afraid I can’t stop it. There’s nothing left to do but go home anyway.




I’ll get up in a minute.