©2021 Michael Raven

he was all smiles
and brazen confidence
there on the
execution scaffolding
until they opened 
that wooden box
with the instruments of
his death:

razor sharp words and
honed glass memories
numbering in thousands

he begged for mercy
at the sight
and still
they bled him dry

---

my past is a
vampire bat hanging
from my neck:
exsanguination
each day
of my life

---

This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang, but a whimper.

TS Eliot, The Hollow Men

---

i am surrender:
i lay down arms
suing for peace
this fortress
ready for
possession
under a
white
flag

---

silence is the cruelest dagger
twisting like ice in your heart
as it turns back and forth
always leaving behind
the black taint of questions
unanswered salting the wound
and a trail of scarlet
left in the driven snow
leading to no place
and no where

---

i have
seen too much
loved too much
known too much
ached too much
desired too much
read too much
fucking SEEN too much

i see i see i see seer sear
sear
sea
s

pluck these eyes              
blind me
stuff my ears                    
with busted glass
sew my mouth shut
tar me and set me          
aflame