2 am when the furnace kicks on
the fire (passion) burns dim, and
you know it’s cold…lonely
there’s rum, and cats
and an old dog
to keep you warm
but not much else
as the ads on the radio
spread fear and the promise of redemption
in this moment
you speak one truth, publicly
and write another, privately
a mind divided, not yet unlocked
can only sustain itself for so long
till all you have is
the languor of daydreams
and
hollow narratives, illuminated
by distant candlelight
familiar melodies seem so far away
and there is something unfinished,
an unspoken palaver
that nibbles at your consciousness
what to do when
those thoughts keep seeping in
there’s two of us inside this head
ya know,
the visionary and the destroyer
hope held in sagacious sanctuaries
but
it may be too late to quit
and eventually,
time makes fools of us all