We write help in invisible stars
No one will see
Until the lights go out
You are quite the little apocalypse today aren’t you
Be prepared
I learnt that
Pin and paper
In my pocket
A shiny penny
Just in case
The world can be vengeful you know
We live in a blank garage
With a red dividing line
Boom boom boom
Faster than a rocket
Off we trip to Kansas
That’s funny
It sounds the same
She giggles
Do you think I leave anything to chance
Welcome to my savage design
We can huff and puff until we lose our mind
Fuck
It's lost already
She lights a cigarette
Lies back against the pillows
Arm behind her head
Ten years disappear in one inhalation
All the tension drained
Like blood
From her stomach
You are quite the little immortal today aren’t you
Always
She says
Poking out her tongue
The town dies in black and white
The burning sun left years ago
I don't want to buy a skyscraper
But I wouldn't mind a castle
She mumbles through the cigarette
Hanging off the corner of her lip
It’s all just the shutdown of electrical activity in your brain
I’ve seen it many times before
Time ticks on the fluoxetine clock
I always thought we were troubled in a light and carefree way
Like pixie dust
She laughs
Exactly
Dematerialise
Diminish
Dismantle
Disconnect
Maybe I would like to wear a dress
Star
Syrup
Sugar
Loss
Just why are we eating an orange
At the kitchen sink
I don't know
I don’t remember anything
We look at each other and laugh
Fall through the bed
Write love in invisible stars
No one will see
Not until the lights go out.
Oh wow... These lines really pack a punch: The town dies in black and white
ReplyDeleteThe burning sun left years ago....
Thank you very much thotpurge....
DeleteIt is strange to imagine immortality when life sucks...not much point then is there? Loved your Wizard of Oz references and your last stanza is magnificent.
ReplyDeleteThank you kindly Old Egg - yes miserable immortality is probably worse than brief happiness..i am glad however we departed on some kind of up note
DeleteThose colour references were quite jarring and violent, highlighting all the more the starkness of your description of a less than perfect life... Well-penned!
ReplyDeleteThank you very much Nicholas - less than perfect is a diplomatic way of describing things - thank you- shall remember that one
DeleteThe cigarette smoke adds just the right amount of hazy to the equation today.
ReplyDeleteFew people are thinking today with the lights on...
Sadly I think that may well be the case...thank you Leslie...hazy equations seem quite frequent these days...
DeleteWow. The lights will go out, so it is good to have HELP / LOVE ready to enlighten the world. Your cigarette line Stopped Me Cold as it describes 37 years of my life! I always knew these two were gods in an existential view of "No Exit"--a negative image of heaven! Scary, but from out here it also looks pretty cool.
ReplyDeleteThank you Susan - we hope for a cool here on out! Smoking seems such a visceral/visual prompt to things which may ail us...some gods are best left behind perhaps
DeleteDo you think I leave anything to chance
ReplyDeleteWelcome to my savage design
So true, there are a lot of people in this world who would rather design their own path in life than leave anything to chance.
Lots of love,
Sanaa
Rightly or wrongly i think that is certainly true - thank you kindly Sanaa - sometimes however it would be good to have someone help set you on a less painful path
ReplyDelete"Time ticks on the fluoxetine clock"...may be healing is very close, the sun will live again and colors would pour on the towns...
ReplyDeleteLet's hope - thank you kindly Sumana
DeleteWe write help in invisible stars
ReplyDeleteNo one will see
Until the lights go out
Jae, I couldn't help but focus on this stanza. It seems like a great opener to your poem that comes with an image of rays of light in a window. To me, that is like a design of how the Second Coming of my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ would be. And as predicted, you wrote next: you're quite the apocalypse today aren't you? this has aesthetic value to me and I applaud you for it. Good stuff.
Thank you James I am so glad you found a positive resonance in the opening...perhaps through different eyes light can be found - and enjoyed...thank you kindly
Deleteit sounds like you've found some happiness hold onto that with both hands.
ReplyDeleteIf it is there will try my best to - thank you kindly Sheilagh
DeleteI, too, most loved "we write help in invisible stars"..........and love the way you began and ended with those lines. I'm a little shocked - is that our little Alice with a cigarette in her mouth? No, it cannot be! I am also struck by time ticking on the fluoxetine clock. Great lines, always, from you, Jae Rose.
ReplyDeleteAnd thank you as always Sherry - she deserves the odd cigarette I think she is stuck with me...probably better to have a break from the sugar too ;)
DeleteThe starting and concluding lines were so amazing.
ReplyDeleteThank you Purba
DeleteOh, powerful sensuous dream I call it!Lovely lines...Jae!
ReplyDeleteThank you very much Panchali - i wonder if it is all a dream after all
DeleteI have a difficult time imagining Alice or anyone really enjoying smoking anymore. That one inhalation draws away so much life...
ReplyDeleteWhether smoke or not, we all have moments of haze...falling into stars and hoping for love.
Thank you for your visit - I hope too that the girl with the crimson hair is truly safe. :) Monroe is nice a nice guy anyway. ;)
Thank you Jules - maybe we all find a nice guide to help us along the way..i think as with most things the cigarette might just be let's pretend! Thank you kindly
DeleteI get such an expansive feeling from your poetry lately, as if the powder has turned to star dust, even if Alice is still giggling. Maybe it's the inhalation.
ReplyDeleteMaybe so Alice - I am glad we have an expanse - thank you kindly
DeleteSuch a visually striking piece. I especially love that line about life being essentially a blank garage with a red dividing line. Poetic.
ReplyDeleteThank you vey much Matthew...yes it is a rather empty room..
DeleteThere is a very nice flow to this poem..rolls easily. Reality is painful and it can be the demise for some people if they have too much exposure.You have the key. You said it yourself.Think your way through it. Falling through the bed with Alice sounds like fun. I might try standing on top of the bookshelf falling on and through the bed LOL !If it doesn't work I'm holding you responsible:)
ReplyDeleteThank you very much Rallentanda..there are certain rolls (off the bed onto the floor for example) that we can manage quite effortlessly...all the other stuff..maybe not so...be careful falling through the bed...and of course...always resonsible!
DeleteInvisible stars are everywhere. Why not write on them? Love your thoughts. I felt your poem go downward in mood, then somehow lift again towards the end. I loved the ride.
ReplyDeleteWe are an up and down kind of mood people! Thank you kindly Myrna...i am glad however we found some kind of lift off!
DeleteReally like the last stanza, Jae. Writing love in invisible stars sounds so very romantic really..even if one falls through the bed in the process. And the light of the stars will never go out!
ReplyDeleteThank you very much Mary - I think the celestial stars are the best ones to be believed in!
DeleteSuch a lovely thought...no one will see, until the lights go out...
ReplyDeleteThank you Annell - and hopefully even then it will be the kindest people who truly want to see xo
DeleteI love the fourth line and the invisible help written in stars...all a journey...excellent, Jae!
ReplyDeleteA journey with slight turbulence but that's all part and parcel I guess - thank you kindly Hannah!
Delete'Do you think I leave anything to chance' ~ the best thought and intention! We're designers! and it's so important to shine light on the Love...
ReplyDeleteThank you humbird - I guess we are even if our subconscious takes over that design - love wasn't my first choice for that parting verse ;) thank you kindly humbird..light and bright to you xo
Delete"no one will see until the lights go out" - pulls the whole wonderful poem together!
ReplyDeleteThank you very much purple!
Deletewhere love is hidden, there will be misery and pain
ReplyDeletemuch love...
That seems to be true! Thank you Gillena
DeleteWell worth the read... thanks.
ReplyDeleteZQ