the darkness
appears velvety
as i lay ensconced
head to toe in
this turgid river
constipated with
dreamthistle
remembrances
wishing the onyx
tide would sweep
me along the track
marked sleeve of
sleeps cold embrace

everything is too
transactional
for my borderline brain
i weave gossamer threads
into a strong rope
thirteen knots
wound wearily with
failingphalanges
as i exchange
scars for photos
needing just enough
yet falling farther
into the unread depths
dipped in dank despair

if i could bottle
ancillary anxieties
add a splash of hapless
slapdash cynicism
a dollop of dread
several sanctimonious
sprinkles of spite
and an overdose of
bipolar hyperboles
maybe then the
melancholic malaise
fitfully flitting in
soulchasm soliloquies
could find an audience

my knuckles are bloody
from punching mirrors
in a vainglorious act
of reflection through
crimson refractions
slivers of silvery sins
where imitations intimate
daydreams of drowning
as they watch me flail
in the ebony currents
circling the sucking wound
blowing blood bubbles
where best intentions
pierce the penumbra
where poetic and pathetic
slow dance into oblivion