All sample content is the property of copyright holder Travis Moon.
talking ourselves to sleep
voices resonate off
familiar walls, stretch-
ing echoes of thought into
bridges of sound so taut
only pauses,
between words,
letters in words,
allow a glimpse of
our yawning chasm
beneath
tempted, a tentative foot
pushes down, but gently,
at first, testing an uncertain
strength against this
dead weight
distance.
“do you love me?”
I am silent and
maybe
just maybe already
asleep.
Blacking In
Then you’re back, only now you are
sipping coffee, or standing in the rain.
It’s sometime after midnight and
the scene has changed. Suddenly
you are not quite sure of your
place anymore, or how much time
you have before this scene ends.
You finish your coffee, or light
a cigarette, and wait to say your lines.
Only you’re not sure of your lines
anymore, or who should be listening
when they are delivered.
And then you’re back only
now you are sipping whiskey,
or standing on a window’s ledge.
Katy Did
All is wagered on a furtive glance.
Language of eyes hides, hoards
nervous pacing with another dance;
a rhythmic, nerveless tapping
of knuckled feet on cellar doors;
a routine fever of grimaces and all
attempting too many too uncomfortable grins.
All is this first chance but
disguised, as a plea to beg the last dance.
Lights come up again,
out of shadows arriving
to beg a question, a promise
that echoes across years
of waiting for leaves to rust,
for seasons to straddle hillsides:
now where?