Turning the handle

You say I swept out the cobwebs from your mind,

chased away the critters nesting

in the corners, darkening them

until the room became a prison, insular

and draining.

But you were the one who kept the door open

when it threatened to close

just so I could take shelter from the storm

chasing me.

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I am your mirror and you are mine.

I could go on about how it was a glimpse

of some things I didn’t imagine.

My brain still turning

despite the gears being clogged.

 

You made a box for me.

Hidden compartments, secret codes,

a smile, that does glisten,

an endless stream of patter,

a bond stronger

than papers and regulation.

 

Cradle it. 

Cradle it.

Cradle it.

 

I know the answer, what

all the decisions have led to:

different ends

of a spectrum but closer

than anything.

Far Above The Clouds

The man uncurled his fingers and looked at his palms.

Bells. There were bells, tubular ones

resting there, instead of his bag of secrets.

The rain still poured down on the mountainside,

yet the clouds were below him, not above.

His hand twitched, and he fell forwards

into the long grasses, through soil and rock

until he could not be told apart from it all.

The bells clattered to the ground, ringing

out for the valley to hear. The rain

stopped at the sound of those bells.

Those tubular bells igniting the day.

Ushering footsteps

The darkness rides the waves of sweat

hidden deep under the layers

resting against your neck.

 

The building cold, a stir of breath,

the air tingles with impatience

while anxiety threatens the grievous theft.

 

A cold stone slab presents itself,

a shuffle of feet, tipping the balance

forward as the clock hits twelve.

 

Visions are strong in this line of work,

hands beckon from beneath

where the bodies quietly lurk.

 

Quiet now, quiet, they surely whisper

remember the promise you made

with your dying younger sister.

 

The darkness rides the waves of sweat

hidden deep under the layers

resting against your neck.

 

Luggage

Bulging from the seams,

the trunk of lies

sits by the door, waiting

for its owner to take it out.

 

The shadow stops just shy.

And turns away, leaving

the trunk to be.

Silenced.

And the girl carrying the chest

full of the secrets from a thousand villages.

 

And the boy who followed after burying

the key in the depths of the deepest loch.

 

And the one who came smiling, tracing

their steps with coin on belt and sword

in hand.