It is a brightening.

It is a brightening.

Fill me up,

Let it be over,

The darkening of days,

The hounding of nights,

Long on bleak encounters.

It is a lightening.

Paint me happy,

Wash me all over,

Cleanse my soul.

Keep my ragged thoughts

In your pocket,

They are not deal breakers

But it would be

The boost a fragile ego

Might need to

Salve the whisper

In the doubt.

But wait,

Stay this foolish thought.

Nothing I say

Carries weight.

It is nonsense to believe

You will pull me out,

Brush me off

And follow my lead.

What was I thinking

To gamble my future

On the turn of a phrase,

When it is nothing

But a deck of cards,

Stacked in favour

Of the house.

At least I know

The stick in your mouth

Is a toothpick,

And not a sliver,

A bite sized splinter

Of an open heart.

Dispensed as a token

Of appreciation,

Given as a closet charm,

From the safety

Of distance.

Do you strut

On the far side,

Where the sun always shines.

Surround yourself,

In a halo of brightness,

Only ever found in patches,

On this side of the tracks.

Am I here

For days like this.

When the sweet

Heat of the sun

Warms the breath,

Leaves vapour trails

Across my soul,

Fills my heart with

The after taste

Of a beggar

At a banquet I thought

Had been prepared

To ease my hunger,

For more than

Just the time it takes

To read these lines,

And then,

Erase

My name for ever.