Revelation

i unfolded time
it was
a great white sail
holes bare
cannon and gun smoke
from so many
pillaging pirates
for her eyes to see
i told her all about me
and all about
you
why couldn’t i do that?
why couldn’t i tell her
before?
she said
yes, i’ve been here
i’ve been here
i know this pain
all things dying
rotted
on the vine
things which once
blossomed
in the light
wither in this
darkness
i know this
poison in your veins
brick in your heart
but time
heals everything
the universe
reduces
itself
to nothing
erodes and
this too will
waste away
leaving only
the bitter
aftertaste
and a deep well
of laughter

Circle

“I seem to have loved you in numberless forms, numberless times, in life after life, in age after age forever.”

-Rabindranath Tagore

—

oh

how your voice

small and scared

reminded me of her

curled up on the floor

with a monster

waiting

right outside the door

i was

all bravado

and child parts then

unable to protect her

from him

watching helplessly

as she rose

with all the things i loved

discarded on the ground

the joy and the hope

in its death throes

subdued forever

beneath her bare feet

so you should be told

that this sickness may be

written on my bones

sparked in my joints

triggered

by this

the thought of you

standing up

with only

half of yourself

left

and perhaps this disorder

is where it starts

perhaps we are

as lovers

born

from this filth

the roots of our illness

penetrating

the purest soil

as we

febrile and scarred

run from our past

only to find ourselves

lost

in its familiarity

 

we produce the most beauty

in the darkest corners

of our lives

 

i wanted to hold you

for this reason

and give you

a kiss, to summon strength

an embrace, to keep you together

and these words:

your heart

is not the disease

it’s the cure