submergence

i need to write

i need to write a poem

but it would only be anything 

completely meaningful

if i write it all over you

all over your bare skin

the meters and rhymes and rhythms and verses

when they end and where they begin

would take care of themselves 

as they bend around the curves and arches 

of your body

hugging your fluent breasts

turning towards your eloquent hips

falling at your feet

rising to your lips

around your back

wrapped tight

the mole on your neck

a punctuation mark

asking me to pause

take my time...

rapacious games

the dizziness 

that comes from being 

half asleep 

and fully awake

the rasp

that comes with early early mornings

punctuated

underlined 

by the soft creaking of the bed

the indents 

on the mattress 

and the pillow

growing deeper

like they have a secret love affair 

of their own 

going on

so completely unaware 

of the two people on them

trying 

to make and find and explore 

their secrets 

in each other

grating

satiating

but never enough

thank god it is never enough

falderal

calloused skin

calloused now

tender once

responsive too

not any more

not any more

calloused care

calloused love

calloused conversations

calloused like

cold weak coffee 

in a tea cup

with a broken saucer

an absent pout 

and an uncomfortable handle

chapped flesh

chapped now

ready to rise, once

even at the slightest hint 

of anticipation

not any more

not any more

chapped optic fibres

chapped digitized images

chapped bytes, never taken

chapped like

the autumn leaf

with toothless blades

collapsed veins

and a defeated midrib

numb arms

and numb legs
lifted once
spread-eagled  too


not any more
not any more

numb medication
numb marrow in the bones
numb dull throb

numb like 
the wishing well
at the centre of the skeletal town
decrepit 
with wishes lying at the bottom
stagnant lost forever paying
the cost of a dead dime

this is it
this is it

is it?

wish it's not

thinking it is

knowing

nothing

calloused 

chapped

numb

desires

being sadistic

with themselves

sad with pleasure

happily sick with pain

longing 

for an outer body experience

pathetic

compilation of dead living cells

their temerity

such self-love

incredulous

all in vain

this skin

this flesh

these limbs

are broken

but never can they 

break free

try if you have to

try

drill the callous

shred the chap

cudgel the numb

and all you'l still get

is a broken 

piece of you

further 

broken into two

this skin
this flesh
these limbs
are broken

but never can they 
break free

cowedly

conversations in black white grey

purdah

previse