Tea Party and Other Poems

Mirage City

Mirage City

Being born is

Signing a contract

Without reading it through

And therefore here we are

Lost in this peculiar mess

That apparently was part

Of the deal

We have wandered below these misty skies

For far too long

And gazed upon this landscape

A collection of smudged colors

Blending with the ground

Beckoning us further

Yet despite all this dust

Eating away my senses

The city is singing a lullaby

Let the night

Settle down once more in our weary bones

We can live peacefully

Between these silent rooftops

And watch the stars

Fade in and out of existence

But the lights from afar

Draw us in like unsuspecting moths

Call me a fool if I fall

Once again

In the all-too familiar trap

But I know that in the distance

Heedless of this never ending desert

That torments us

The city is singing a lullaby

Don't ask me if I tried

Goodness know how many times

To tread these sinuous streets

That loop around themselves

Into complicated knots

Or simply lead to split ends

Or dead ones

I always end up

In an undesired corner that

I know is not part of the lights

Nor the wisps of song

Nor the desires that cling to the skin

(Like voracious leeches

Leaving us as empty shells

In the morning)

Yet somewhere beyond these tragedies

In a hushed voice

The city is singing a lullaby

I live within all these

Fruitless meanderings

Delve into the depths of

This macabre ink-stain

I sometimes stumble upon memories

Portraits of pale men

And dark-eyed women

Who might be dead for all I know

Or casual truths tossed aside

By more vicious and trivial notions

Maybe we can start over

Another day

With keener eyes and better judgement

Brave these empty sidewalks

Prod these hidden alleys

Step on this unfamiliar ground

That might finish us off

But for now I will rest

My head on a pillow of sorrow

Let my thoughts burn away to ashes

And from far

I hear it again

The city is singing a lullaby