Another Ghost

Robert carries a bag of shadows
around twice the size of his heart
and when he gets to drinking
he lets them all out of the bag
into a great big sorrow pit
filled with all the tears he never cried
and he swims around with them
all those shadows
and he always nearly drowns
But he hasn’t drowned yet
i guess that’s why
he keeps going back
to see if maybe this time
they can pull him down
all the way down to the bottom
where it’ll be quiet and dark
and he can finally just be
another ghost
instead of the one being haunted
Something lives inside of Robert
made of all the tragedy he’s ever seen
and it comes out when he drinks
to keep him company
and promises him a sweet trip to nowhere
better than where he’s at
better than carrying that bag of shadows
around twice the size of his heart


c.marleneazoulai2012

STIFLED

(photograph-detail of assemblage sculpture)

shrink

she has a smile on her face
that says you’re sick
and I’m not
you’re mentally un-well
and I’m here to fix you
you’re outside the norm
inappropriate not balanced
i will make you steady
you’re not well calibrated
with peaks and lows
i will make you flat
you are unruly wild
i will make you placid
and predictable
look at me, she says
i pass unobserved
i do not stand out
or make inappropriate noises
i will trim your edges
so that you will fit
neatly into the box
i will flatline you
into the sweet oblivion
of a pollyanna
who sees no darkness
only light
I will heal you
de-construct
and re-construct you
according to
the
gospel
of
normal

c.MarleneAzoulai2012