Veil.

I’m alone

A

Lone

Not
Lonely

I’m sitting in bed
Legs crossed
Elbows upon knees
Chin in palms
Hair in face
My eyes;
Have long-adjusted
To the blackness
Of this cube
This hollow tomb
That is
My room
Clock
In bastard corner
Strikes
Four
And I can’t seem
To locate sleep
Though
I’ve been searching
Everywhere

For

A raindrop symphony
Is flimflamming paradiddles
On walls, sills’ snare
Stampeding,
Marauding my mind
When
A shadow
Of a man
Cloaks my window
A stretched shade
Of a man
Who’s
Barely beyond
Nothing more than
A tall
Lanky
Brown-haired
Silhouette
In leisure suit
That always
Rambles past
Is;
Right now;
Is;
Strolling by
Slowly
With head
In-sky
With nose
In-cloud
He’s hauling
That tale
That
Text
That
Haunting
Manuscript
That

Bible
And

ITS

Tucked firm
Against his chest like a schoolgirl would carry books

He is glaring
Down
At
Me
From sides
Of bloodshot
Blaming
JUDGING eyes
While stars
Those
Big looming lights
Those
Holes in darkness
Those
Memory-slivers
Those
Regret-filled rays
Have festooned him
Like
A halo
A fucking
Radiating

Halo

And they
As well
Ogle me
With eyes sparkly
Like diamonds
Like sea in bright sunshine
Pointing
With pitiful glances
With
Winks of
Slyness

And I sense
A presence
At my side;
“Remember me?
You burden
You failure
You waste
You
Assassin of everything you touch
You should have ended it all
Years ago
Find it: shinny steel, pointed gold
Do it now
Do everyone a favor”

And meanwhile, that tree
Out front
That is gradually
Asphyxiating
My window
Steadily
Swallowing
My view
That
Beautifully contorted tree
That refuses
To stand
Like all of the others
That has bloomed
Gorgeous
White blossoms
Has flowered
Glorious
White buds
Each spring

It

Smirks
Ever-the-cynic
Sneers
As I contemplate

Speculate

If I
As well
Will
Bloom and
Blossom and
Prosper…this
Spring…this
Summer…this

Year…

As
Metronome-clock
Tick-tock
Tick-tock
Tick
Fucking
Obsessively
Tock’s…

Erasing

Time

  • rayy

    rayy

    AWESOME mark. love this piece. i like how choppy ur thoughts r, but it still flows. greta job hun!! xoxox

  • Lisa  Jewell

    Lisa Jewell

    I love how your mind works….even if sleep deprived…..

    I really enjoyed the trip XO

  • Nanmarie

    Nanmarie

    Ahhh, the noise of the dragon! Beast is he. An excellent piece of writing Mark and very raw. Awesome.

  • markgb replied

    Thank you so much Nancy!

  • VelvetGirl

    VelvetGirl

    It rocked me. I will have to think of it when sleep eludes me…....I think I will!

  • markgb replied

    So, are you saying that this will put you to sleep?

  • VelvetGirl

    VelvetGirl

    Oh Nooooo….didn’t mean it that way at all. Rather that while I’m lying awake I will think of these haunting words…...

  • karenee

    karenee

    Fascinating & thought-provoking. I have a friend who I think will enjoy this as well. I’ll send him over. walks away, pondering

  • markgb replied

    Thank you kindly! This was tough to write in the sense that it makes me sound like some paranoid, delusional mess.
    BUT, maybe I am. : )

  • karenee

    karenee

    I would rather say that this makes you sound human. I could say, “Everyone has moments like this.” (... except it implies I know, and it’s merely an informed opinion.) It’s healing to find yourself in sympathetic company, and also to find someone has put words to the heart, providing a way to look at it from outside yourself and clarify perspective.

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