november 2021

                      (i)

...on which side of the bars do I stand

on the captive side of verse

or on that of the uncaged minotaur

invisible among men

a myth feasting on pain

filling the air with similitudes

with the heroes of soaring iron

this bestial psyche

buried deep within

this, my sweet penitentiary

for truly I was shackled to verse

even while in the womb

so that the mere touch of words

their diction, their sting

has always cut into my flesh

this likeness to no human truth

these similes which move nothing

calm nothing and, indeed, are nothing

just scars left by the void

as still it feasts upon my soul...

                        (ii)

...at the foot of golgotha mankind celebrates

but the angels stand confused

ripping out their hair

then hissing they pull from the sewers

a baby girl of only three days 

and yet at the heart of our world

mankind celebrates 

and orders the angels to be merry

to expose their breasts and sing

as they wash away the faeces

from the child’s tiny face

its limbs blue with cold

and so drinks are ordered

and the music is made louder

strobe lights and cocaine take hold 

in the arms of allah

in the smile of the buddha

at the very root of this earth

mankind celebrates

and angels throw themselves to the ground...