Poems

Yellow

Existence dangles precariously on a single line,

Possibly as thick as lines painted across the asphalt that your shoes traverse over.

What if you happen to glance up as twin suns blaze towards you, disregarding the neon sign?

Eyes are seared in a blaze of radiance, last thoughts drowned by a blaring wail, the scent of burning rubber assaulting your senses.

Crunch.

This, I ask: what is your next destination?

Do fields of wheat stretch before your vision, dappled by golden rays of sun?

Grass a lush carpet underneath your bare feet, daintily dusted by dandelions, skin warmed by daylight,

The air sweet with saccharine honeysuckle, wavering with the hum of bees.

Perhaps you are nameless, formless, gliding through a sea of fireflies glittering against a deep, velvet curtain,

No thoughts interrupt the peace, no whispers of the subconscious to interpose the serenity of you and millions of scintillating kindred.

There is a chance that are not basking in the halcyon, elysian glow of bliss,

Your retinas not burned by stars, but by a flaming, boiling sea.

Oppressive heat licks your skin, parches your mouth,

The oily ocean offering no relief to the unquenchable thirst.

Sulfur shores are brittle underneath your feet, the pungent and rancid odor seeping into your pores.

The minerals crumble on your tongue, unable to alleviate your insatiable hunger.

Stained, crooked teeth gnash as ragged nails claw at jagged, rock walls, at flesh.

Agonized moans echo through the opaque haze of smoke and ash,

Piercing your very soul like serrated blades.

A dream and a nightmare skirt each other, brushing without truly touching.

Holes in reality allow them to flit through, fleeting glimpses of two fates.

The line between the two extremes is blurred and obscured,

Melding the contrasts together in what we call life.