I COULD ALLOW

I could allow
Myself to fall
Into this trap again

I see your smile
Through branches and leaves
Through time
Cheshire—
You draw
In and out
Of reality
I fall
In and out
Of dreams

Cheshire smiles
Cheshire wiles
But I know
The fire in your eyes
Is but a reflection of mine

Oh, Chimera
Oh, kitten
Oh, Chimera

You are above me now
I pray you'll stay

You are above me now
I pray you'll fade

Till all that's left
Is your yellow smile
Superimposed

Till all that's left
Is that which
Glows, glows, glows


COME TO UNDERSTAND

Come to understand
[that I]
live on the edge of [y-our] reality

I am the point
where scab and skin meet:
the never-ending wound,
the ground-swell--
The point
where everything you know but cannot name
rots, gasses, erupts

I am the lizard
just under your skin
hungry
--serpent-licking--
the reason you can't sleep
The scales under your touch
Tectonic movement
rising fingerprints and smiles
Viscera
barely contained
by your vitality-
of-the-moment--
of-movement:
as long as you shiver
you contain me.
Stand still
and burst.

I am seven days unrepentant
Unnamable
I am the reason you hate
And everything
That ever wanted to love you.

04/29/2006

Posted on 04/29/2006
Copyright © 2025 Richard Paez