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days are shorter

I tell myself

the void must be filled

and what better than the night

like I she is no hunter

scours merely for acceptance

like / the loners

on pavements

///////////////

why not act like a man / when you are

why carry a loose identity

to be peeled off when necessary

why the anxiety / the care

the world is not on your shoulders

you have handsomely

placed it on mine

///////////////

it has always been on my terms

sex

money / or lack of

drugs

such carefree existence

yet far from

careless

live by / rules

clouded with hypocrisy

while fastening a smile

turn on the light

and / I shall follow

willingly

///////////////

one only needs to look outside

and smell the cruelty

abundant as summer’s / fruition

to revive what is left

in the wake of

an inspiration-drought

glorious / pigmentations

align the scope

everything swells

down to the feet

so why not the mind

///////////////

mornings / what dreary events

the alarm goes off

and we carry our bodies out of bed

like squealing children

cursing

cursing

hating

we stumble / sit for a while

as temptation begins its masquerade

we savour our coffee

as if an exotic remedy

to wear off the pain

we stare at each other

faceless

expressions are cruel

we huddle together / like family

day-dreaming

///////////////

sometimes / I neglect to thank

the Lord

and my days seem heavier

does he forget / who I am

///////////////

words seek validation

as actions seek motivation

statements

neuter

fertilise nothing

///////////////

it is selfish to love

to truly love

because we love

ourselves just as much

so love / makes us idle

///////////////

it is always time for bed

but never the time to wake / up

life becomes a chore

we roam we stalk we mingle

we do everything / that is meaningless

our destination is but a mirage

we become the joker

to kings

but in our dreams

we find ourselves

playing

fulfilling the unknown

no excuses to falter / nor

intuition to maim us

what wonders

dreams do to us

daily

liberations

///////////////

someone will forget to remember you

because death takes away

the privilege of / priority

///////////////

the night

her cruel companion

seduces with sunken promises

and absconds with hers

she / calls on the day to

sit with her

a little longer

///////////////

solace of the night

all / is oblivious

oblivious

o v s

///////////////

monuments

remnants of a bygone supremacy

reminds us

of their monumental defeat

declarations

of a faded / glory

///////////////

secrets

of others

will be kept

temporarily

to myself

when I get bored

I / will share

them

///////////////

a leaf

begins a journey

downstream

into / the lines of

an unwritten / libretto

///////////////

days / sting

like salt / on wounds

as they bear / no significance

///////////////

walks along garden paths

the sound of birds corresponding

picture / of absolute serenity

quietude slips away / like smoke

into someone else’s mind

and my image of her fades

///////////////

religion / an inconvenience

human nature / my sole dependency

this is where I station my faith

///////////////

expectations shelter

beneath a roofless dwelling

its voice demands attention

yet / it holds no integrity

///////////////

water runs cold

skies / confuse

elements reverse

///////////////

I

write everything down so that

I

remember the things

I

need to do / yet when

I

re-read them / they are exposed to scrutiny

///////////////

the cat relishes

my cashmere

we fondle / for a moment

shy away from eye contact

and before long

he reappears onto

the lap of another

///////////////

nightly / widow

the world is at your feet

why trail a forbidden extravagance

///////////////

consolations / spring

bring no security

formality / precedes

leads to absolution

///////////////

my axis

floats in the rotunda

of / estimation

the sky never quite clears

and / the glorious morning pledged

has yet to reappear

the heart

is kept on a leash

muted

it mutates

instead

///////////////

I lived / everywhere

east and west

now I live

where east meets west

I am at last at home

but this place I call / home

is not where I belong

///////////////

waiting is an excuse to be uninterested

in the impending matter of / unimportance

///////////////

the cigarette burns

minimally

the smoke / exhaled

charts her journey

///////////////

he / smiles seamlessly

to align with

social conformity

he / takes off his glasses

to make him seem

less foreign

he / loses his accent

to abandon any childish

pretension

he / works at night

to justify

his days

///////////////

unter den linden

wantonness / dallies beneath

your shade

///////////////

words pulled in all directions

degrees of / assembly

settle without legitimacy

a / voice cries out

a murmur

ricochets

///////////////

his aroma

my / morning

hair flaxen

frames a set of azure

a face

I barely / remember

anon

because / I no longer know

him

///////////////

outcaste for at least another year

divided / without derision

unremorseful

he leaves his mark upon the bottle

///////////////

it is easy to reject life

for what it is

what we have we should

take for granted

dreams / cannot

escape a reality

to live is to enact the sins

why waste ourselves with the bland

at the end we all see the light

let us hope it is our / heaven

///////////////

sheathed in moonlight

a lean / figurine

draws an unlikely observer

he composes another sonata

in / her name

///////////////

to be the constant cynosure

my back prepares for / another stab

but they fail to harm my vital organs

my pride and my arrogance

///////////////

shades of grey

my / only colour

their simplicity

gave birth

to me

///////////////

define me / with

your democracy

and you will only achieve

a step backwards

revive me / with

electric shocks

and all you will receive

is pity

///////////////

as I try to delineate

moss from stone

my hair / thins

and everything

begins

to make / sense

///////////////

the dome shrinks as I raise an eyebrow

it stands mightier in the mind

many flock to react / awe-inspiringly

only to hide their disappointment

ingenious / your glass facade

but you stutter in your message

modernity curtsies

before the grandeur of old

///////////////

birthdays

where is the point

they amass a deluded / anticipation

and leave us less of a person

we were the day / before

a year marks another year

towards an end

it passes through a toll-booth

of an unformed / adulthood

we whistle in tune with innocence

yet our melody is complex

even at / forty

we play in our cots

our days spent philandering

with our toys

at what age do we reach our prime

even now / I have become none the wiser

still make the same regrettable mistakes

my head stoops

as I count from one to ten

///////////////

obligations / submerge

enthusiasm grinds to a halt

the exact time remains / unclear

the ticking bears no rhythm

the sound of trumpets

salute the last hour

of another day of

silent impressions

///////////////

I have outgrown my primal shell

while my friends / remain in theirs

as I stare at the deserted cocoon

they inveigh / by labelling me

persona non grata

fortunately / my new family

needs no introduction

///////////////

his / grievance

forth-coming

intrudes

///////////////

the ergonomics / of friendship

broadens the scope / for exoneration

///////////////

intumescence

of curiosity

maroons atop / a ledge

///////////////

our hands never quite / touch

persiflage restores

our / childish ways

upon a diptych

///////////////

as / she withdraws

with a decisive breath

she invites me

to re-enter her womb

///////////////

his configuration / incomplete

harnesses a supple pre-text

to a

disengagement

///////////////

she complicates our affair

with / her

ocho

boleo then media-luna

she leads as I / follow

this is our

argentine ritual

///////////////

she fine-tunes me

with her body-language

dusk is slow / in letting go

like nature

her rain is merciless

her sister-summits / brutal

salvation hides

behind her facial-clouds

my roof / begins to leak

///////////////

I am left doing cart-wheels

to / attract his attention

or perhaps I should cast / a spell

to seek out the faintest

glimmer of hope

his face / unamused

I am left doing cart-wheels

alone

///////////////

I hate everyone outside my window

they seem to ease / into life

without the suspicion / of others

interactions of a pure morning

///////////////

the squeal of a fire-engine

liberates me from my sleep

I wake / sodden

I question

all that is around me

is this my bed upon which I lay

///////////////

he / strips me of my patina

only to find a mould-stricken

self

///////////////

she guides me / paternally

scent of patchouli

mimics / her absence

///////////////

to / wander

to / drift along her riverbed

to / sing a madrigal with her

my only purpose as a youth

///////////////

our hearts synchronize

as we / rediscover our patois

she disinfects my wounds

the lies

covers / my bullet-holes

with her shroud

colours / me

she unties my hand and

and we talk diplomatically

///////////////

the last cigarette / is lit

stoically

before he completes / his verse

his attention deflects towards

a defiant congregation

he moves in / light-years

to wrestle with Monoceros

and Lepus

///////////////

I forbid myself / to count the lines

that form along my characteristics

I refuse to diffuse / into another streak

of self-engaging protests

I stand / further away than usual

from my beloved twin

I conquer / these demons

and sacrifice them in the name of good-will

///////////////

women of the / spire

children of the / knave

no longer supports

the proceedings at the altar

feigned euphoria

keep-sake for the organist

///////////////

his words are easy

mal-nourished /at best

but

hardly deformed / enough