Candles

I’ve seen people dying

incrementally

believe me

folk are soluble

and they can fade away

sometimes people die

very suddenly

believe me

folk are fragile

and can break so easily

and people simply vanish

unexpectedly

believe me

folk can disappear

without a bye or leave

Bread

I started on the razzle

out of my fucking head

stumbling blindly onward

where angels feared to tread

but I didn’t fade away

I hung on by a thread

while the ladies of the parish

furnished me with bread

I had bills I couldn’t pay

and a monkey to appease

but that kind of generosity

meant I didn’t freeze

the truth is I was crawling

on my bloody knees

I was just another victim

of societal disease

Solitary

unscheduled hallucinations     and psychotic interludes      plagued my formative years       and shaped my ultimate destination      I reached critical mass        gained a certain momentum      but, I wish I could just lie down        and take a fucking telling

I’m so tired right now       I could drag the whole world with me       through darkened corridors       to the great panopticon      where elastic promises       and suicidal compacts       are made by strange bedfellows         there’s no parole        or remission given       for the devotees of chaos        just as there are no casual acquaintances forged      in solitary confinement

Blood Rite

I’m all jelly bone

and knee tremble

my brothel creepers

and crepe soul

slick with anticipation

tomorrow

is another

creosote sundae

but tonight

is a total eclipse

of reason

I bide my time

spilling my oats

on barren ground

to be washed away

in the menstrual cycle

my instruments

calculate trouble

word gets around

there are no secrets

in monkey town

Sundowners

don’t kid yourself
you know these people
just cause they button up
the same way you do
they got secrets to cash
and monkeys to feed
by day they hone
their grievances
forge alliances
and swear their oaths
as playground innocents
but at night
they are a different
species of stupid
when their kamikaze hearts
spur them to perform
localised atrocities
of obscene and banal
dimensions