signal to the engineer (m)

what leaks
over which
cables sleep
with fishes
under litres
of coca-cola

weight

the carpet is
a puke resistant floral patchwork
my face against the wall
five fingers pushing flesh to brick
each breath a gasp
two fifty clutched in a fist

an illusive lepidoptery

wish you were anything
more than here
again
sweating sentiment through mountains of affect
of acne and damp
loneliness and black dog,
of bereft, turned to some imagined you,
gold at sundown sparkly like
light itself, warmth
buried like a lifetime of Hiroshimas
generations of Kashmir, dry powdered,
potential apocalypse
wanted,
just not enough

gabilan

imagination limns a curve of spine
enumerating vertebrae
whispering 'mine'

how deep you are in this

the game plays different
every time
though tenets persist

efforts to undo
tirelessly manifest

incineration is always arbitrary
no matter how deep you are in this

slashfeatherpressure

experienced lapse
a sinewy silence seeps
armours like blankets