so many parties too much everything dancing on broken glass blue lips of lust wander nurse my mind bathe my need wake up to an icy dawn in a park with that man again in shattered mist i crawl within grip his poison soul why do i slide back to you slouched in your way of always the same i feed him a cigarette didn’t i see you mumbling and stumbling last night somewhere we both loathe in crave a dying bird at the edge of a pond i kneel to hold its rolling gasp stare blind at screeching eyes me and my other truth entwined in crumpled song of sharing death with slipping more and i say nothing like always before now is again the void a scarlet flower in bubbling mud i lick the bloodied petals whisper prayers into a rocky breeze don’t cry drowning in fight wet trickery never helped before for god’s sake stand up and move away from you do something new recite your manufactured silence of repetition midnight through and through feel limp courage fade hold me help me or slink away as you do and do and release me until the next time chimes
Stephen House has won many awards and nominations as a poet, playwright and actor. He’s received several international literature residencies from The Australia Council and an Asia-link residency. His chapbook “real and unreal” was published by ICOE Press. He’s published often and performs his acclaimed monologues widely.
