the somber synonyms of sea
make the insides of a shell hush with words
in the pearled mother tongue of the moving water
I cup my ears over the wood and it sounds like a fret train running through my brain
at 12:34 am
silences play hide and seek with me
fool around in meadows
distance measured in rows of
identical dancing dandelions
distance pools endless possibilities
the proximity
like stung plump by a bee
makes my lips
tremble with the thoughts of tranquility
I seek only silences
and they playfully hide away from me
questions ground in a mortar
coarse powdery
like plaster of Paris
mixed with water
science's feeble try to mend broken bones
set out in the air, getting dry by the second
asking for the reverberation of my reasons
for me, I have shards of glasses
fitted down my throat
that hurt and cluster
on angles of light, I don't understand
like a kaleidoscope with blood clots inside
instead of twinkles and twilight
mom interrupts with a cup of warm ginger tea
she's sweet and my throat feels better already
but the time is up
'why can you not be more like her'
'why can you not at least smile'
'why would you spill the tea down the sink-
it's always too bitter or too sugary but -
but what did you do make of all the things in life
it decays and decays
on my skin and on my mind
like a picture of Dorian Gray
silences turn into sin
when the whole country is left tired to the bone
sucked dry of life,
it's a coup -
brewing in the secrecy of late-night cafés
that extends a hail and leads a turn of events
without further questions
so I light my candles
warm yellow
and borrow papa's music vinyls
old mellow
make one of those elaborate plans I say
there's an abandoned house
by the end of the street
dense and sweet
humbly covered in milkweed
so tear out pages of poetry and carry them in the underpocket of your trench coat
pretend we have our own dead poet's society
hold hands and I'll show you
how we've been fitting the wrong key
silences but shared
share only silences
take a moment to sip more of that
while I find a new hiding place for me
now rush
put on your mask
I'm five steps to the right of the olive branch tree
come find me.
Painting by: Romina Basu
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