Parting Papers Seas

Photo by Emiliano Arano from Pexels

They’ve run out of fresh blood to add in the fountain pens

So the paper seas are grudgingly parting right in front of them.

The pages meld and tear, cut open everyone who passes.

Those who own the worthy trees, control the sleepy masses.

Their backpacks are empty but blind trust is all they need.

The system is the system, honest men don’t have to sleep.

Even when the sails catch their blues, they recklessly persevere.

The drifting boat feeds on everyone who dares to come near.

And we observe from the shore, hoping the waves will come,

Hoping the waters will evaporate those who only serve some.

Don’t call us naïve though, we know these paper seas cold –

Their surfaces drown empty pockets and only float in gold.

Yet – their ship keeps sailing, our legs are muddy up to the knees.

The future must be a promising concept when you do as you please.

But they’ve run out of fresh blood to add in their fountain pens

So our scalps are grudgingly parting right in front of them.

-JW

Yell The Name

Photo by Lucas Pezeta from Pexels

They called me back again when I was almost out of the door,

They begged me to look at their stolen pearls for a moment more.

But there is dirt behind their fingernails from all the digging,

The smell of fresh corpses lingering, the gift that keeps on giving.

Their chairs tied themselves to my calves so I couldn’t run away,

Just another nightmare they put me through to keep me awake.

My restless legs danced on hot coals, my hair kept greying.

The dirty palms in their pockets smirked, “You should be staying.”

It must’ve been a week or a month, I can barely remember.

Thoughts chained to the walls, door glued shut until next December.

Even when I regret ever looking back when they yelled my name,

I’ll wrap their pearls around my neck tomorrow, ready to play the game.

-JW

Call Me Once Your Tongue Is Buried

Photo by Bruno Glätsch from Pexels

The candles swing dangerously close to the crimson sunset,

They sweep away the clouds and leak wax onto lying pamphlets.

Perhaps the chains holding the chandelier will keep them stable

But I’m ready to bet they’ll break this ceiling to turn the tables.

As she watches the horizon, paper seas rise behind her eyes,

Nothing but dead trees below her feet, bruised in paints and dyes.

A single flutter of her lashes could set the whole skyline on fire.

The waters are churning frantically, coughing up worn out tires.

The crisp air holds in its breath, lets her say the words first.

She knows how to shatter a moment like a heavy cloudburst.

“For all the grey stones which I have swallowed and carried,

I curse you to only call me once your tongue is buried.”

And the seas stand back, the candles fade into the westerlies.

The sentences sink into the sun-baked ground with her yesterdays.

Only pitch black voids are left in the sky when she returns home

Ready to paint yet another vivid day leaden and monochrome.

-JW

When The Lights At The End Of Your Pier Go Out

I wrote your number in my favorite book,

Folded it between the yellowing pages.

Only to remember I have to stay in the sun,

Only to remember where my rage is.

But your whispers follow me around sometimes.

They tell me phrases I want to hear.

You chose the darkest night to go silent,

You threw me into the waves from a pier.

Now I still carry this guilt like shackles,

Some days I use it as a carbon steel sword.

It takes all the power that I have gathered

To never kill myself with your words.

If one day my armour finally fails me,

I hope it traps you in unrepayable wages.

I wrote your number in my favorite book,

Burned the covers and ripped the pages.

-JW

Blood Moon Rising

Photo by Martin Lopez from Pexels

The red moon is climbing over the abandoned buildings in my backyard,

Spreading its devious glow, smashing all bulbs to dangerous shards.

But when the tranquil starlight touches my empty eye sockets,

Another ambition of mine dies and your greed fills unworthy pockets.

Some black smoke is escaping the nearby chimneys, letting me choke.

“Those city kids get high on fumes,” you always used to joke.

It is quite funny how the smog reminds me of your coldest embraces.

You used to hold me down – one heel on the temple, grin on your two faces.

But they called it a fairytale so I let the carriages run over my feet,

I let the night become my sister and hoped your hate would grow discreet.

The darkness wrapped me like a cloak, suffocated me like boiling syrup.

When I unwrapped all your ingrown chains, they deemed you a cherub.

Still – each time the blood moon rises, I welcome it in my ghost town.

I play with it deceitfully until another naïve morning comes around.

The drops of water hold onto your reflection but I wipe them away.

Sharp edges collect themselves again as my pride gets rebuilt in clay.

-JW

Disintegration Theory

Photo by Lucas Pezeta from Pexels

The tragedy came knocking down cardboard doors,

Breaking jaws and crystal figurines on the floor.

Curtains parted like the seven seas, in synchrony,

And the roof sunk in, uncovering my villainy.

The inked pages absorbed the flooded fields,

Through the chaos we lost all helmets, all shields.

The sun dimmed when it fell towards my neck,

But the others hid me for a blank paycheck.

The red petals went limp, the clouds collapsed,

Mist seeping in cracks, disintegrating me fast.

I held onto my limbs ‘til the sky again inflated.

They can see me struggling,

They must never see me breaking.

-JW

Shiny Enough

Photo by Johannes Rapprich from Pexels

Sore gashes stitching themselves together

Under full moon, through freezing weather.

Some still fear the threads and needles

So they fall on the ground,

Pretending they’re feeble.

Shoes glued to the asphalt, nowhere to go,

Each wrongful movement makes you glow

And once you’re shiny enough to see

They’ll include you

In the next killing spree.

Silver liquids poured into scarlet eyes

Until the palest lips loudly apologize.

But those who don’t seem to ever learn

End up protesting

In an unlocatable urn.

-JW

The City Calls

Photo by Anete Lusina from Pexels

The walls within this sickly concrete sea monster always look too dull,

The faces are greyer than October sky, barely sticking to their skulls.

I bury all clues and shotguns where I know I’d never step my foot again

And blend in with the walls, breathing in fumes and fresh propane.

The lines are long but I’m used to waiting for an uneventful death.

Each humanoid figure around is the same – everything but a real threat.

We submissively march to the music and lower our eyes when it stops.

Some ashy buildings appear on the horizon just as my stomach drops.

I can sense the electric nervousness strings overtaking the numb crowd.

This is the moment we could run for cover – only if we were allowed.

Instead we brace for impact as cement fills the streets, we are tongue tied.

We’ve been taught since a very young age:

When the city calls, you must always be ready to die.

-JW

The Forest Is My Church

Photo by payam masouri from Pexels

Velvet winds soothe my battle scars in the navy blue moonlight,

My feet are enchanted, they keep moving out of wicked spite.

I kneel, letting my bare skin touch a softly frozen heap of snow.

The forest becomes my church, and I’m seated in the very first row.

Curious creatures peak through the branches to catch a glimpse,

Caterpillars and butterfly wings mix with sharp teeth and fins.

And the ground beneath me shakes with a long awaited relief,

Hugging my wounded parts and covering them gently, leaf upon leaf.

Foxgloves ring their bells thrice, the forest echoes their sound.

They search for my soul in all the boxes marked “lost and found”.

One night they will discover it and I will be pushed into the light

But for now the morning wearily calls us as my sanctuary

Vanishes from sight.

-JW

Little Fictions

Photo by Kristina Paukshtite from Pexels

The rosewood door to your dream house still haunts me while I sleep.

I wanted to walk the highroad but you dragged me into the deep.

Withheld secrets spilled on the floor, sour air between our bodies

As you ask me to close the door from the other side

And find some better hobbies.

The keys to my old apartment hide in your closet with all the “sorries”.

I spend my weekends cutting little fictions out of our happiest stories.

There’s no way we got that far up the mountain just to die on a hill,

No way a pile of ash destroyed the paper palaces

The strongest fires couldn’t kill.

Now whenever I drive by your house, it doesn’t remind me of home.

You can change the paintings and curtains, but you cannot rebuild Rome.

Every new morning comes with another ounce of sharpened lucidity,

And I hope it cuts my pride open just enough

To defy your gravity.

-JW