Saturday, January 29, 2011

XXVIII

These humdrum thumps make its demands
against the door of my heart
They say yield!
You reckless, feckless speck
Before disappointment becomes your main -
Stay before your soul gets caught in the cross -
Fire before your pain becomes life -
Long for all you should be in the one life that you've got

Speak up or they'll find someone else
to be all that you struggle so hard to be
The scent of quick lipstick and nylon stockings
were a reminder of what could be lost.
Questions that are answered,
not with sweet wit but with lips licked,
ready to let these words slip.

Don't you know you're scaring me?
She asks when she sees the knuckles pale.
curled up like a clenched fist,
tension thick in the fingers.
Wrapped around this pencil,
with which I will stain this black leather-backed page
like emotions were shaken coffee cups set down too hard.

Don't let me down so hard.
It is my turn to be afraid now;
that one day I might run out of these words to comfort her with.
That one day I might say what I truly mean.
That I am selfish desire
the flashback of lust
but even that isn't enough
for the both of us.

- Daryl Goh

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