Taxidermist

You a ferrous metal and I a magnet Drawn to you by design, Yet sin degrades all With it’s terror and it’s squall. On my worst days When I listen to the liar Saying “It’s okay its natural Like breathing Or seething.” Desires denied Sorrows multiplied. I shower and feel the skin come off Everytime hoping the next layer Will be thicker and less porous Keeping out the slithering vapours That slide in so easily. You told me I’m brand new But why do I have these phantom pains From a spine I no longer have? For you demanded that too… Tonight don’t let the darkness bite. Sometimes the prescription for these lenses Is so strong I can’t even hear you, My fingers trip over themselves Can’t ever get the whole story out. Why are all old men bent over? Do we all hide our magic? I am pierced not as though by arrows But as though by poetry Run through to the crux of the matter. The matter of matter Of what matters, Do I? That which upsets me inspires me most And it’s true tragedy Brings a man to the surface. For years now I’ve been far beyond the surface Can you place me back beneath? Give me a mermans lungs and let me not choke. I am both hope and cheer I am both charm and jeer. I feel the spectre anticipating I can hear it berating And I see it slipping in and out of me I read the putrid pleasantries It writes on the corridors of my mind. Ghost, demon, ghoul whatever name you’ve chosen Allow me to address you directly this day Do you not see me? Look me in the eyes Hold my gaze I dare you! I am but the slain wolf Of greatest hunters The master taxidermist Stitching me back together with sterner stuff. Good or evil a wolf still has teeth Come now and let us do battle! I grow tired of dreading the looking glass Of fleeing the hour where shadows lengthen Like fear with nightly growth spurts. That particular kind of weariness That makes life bleed heavily. Coffee isn’t enough to hold my hand To prop open my eyelids With tent pegs meant for home. I require victory I thirst for conquest Over strongholds in my heart, Then I may rest. You have birthed in me a rage The greatest of the age You’ve been biding your time And committing your crime But I have not been idle I have known a donor of strength That will make me victorious. Come now bring your weapons See if it does you any good A man of my word you will soon learn Light too can bite. I by might imbued me Will fight till bones protrude thee. - Vagabond Prophet