i shudder
as the cosmos
slide across
the fractured surface
of my roadrash soul
as my thoughts
coagulate at the touch
of a million stars
grating flakes of
sublime miseries
to gently float
a cloud of grit
obscuring the view
where discontent
runs slipshod over
sullen wonder
a new pollutant
in shades of
tallow remorse
and i cannot tell
the heaving in
my strained chest
from the quaking as
the world stutters
beneath my bare feet
internal pressures
coalesce into a symphony
of discordant surrenders
my heart is ever expanding
as my ribs jut out
tearing through flesh
to sit exposed
the toothy grin of
a traveling salesman
pedaling poisons
and claiming they
are cure alls for the
symptoms that ail
these universal woes
my heartbeat sounds
a last curtain call
before slipping back
into the shadows
where her smile
is the only light
in a galaxy of
souldust silences