night on repeat

black flies on the windowsill 

that we are

that we were

that we are to know

the sky opened up above

revelaving streaks of grey indigo

dotted with stars

         some fading and broken 

           some  disused

             loathsome 

hiding in the folds 

waiting for the light to go out        

 I wandered alone

by the river that night

looking upwards
        then the earth   shook ///////////::::::::::

and I coughed

and coughed and coughed
and coughed and coughed

until my ribs shattered

inside my battered

heart, became exposed

                                                    but I suppose 

it was only a matter of time

there by the river

by the japanese pagoda

the gold buddha watching me intently

as I clutched onto my insides

exposed in the darkness

though in the shadows it's easy to hide

like those stars in the folds

shrouded by the forever universe