CONTENTS UNDER PRESSURE!

Shake carefully only on occasion.

Subject will cry when stressed and

act goofy when happy. 

I drink a cocktail of moonlight

Laced with a million shooting stars

The intoxicating scent of darkness

Accompanied by the candlelight of long forgotten midnight bars

Where I tussle with my demeanour

Surrounded by the righteous and the wicked

The lost and the wronged

Amongst all the dysfunction is somewhere we belong

Some sort of serenity hinted at in a thousand different songs

While we sway in time to the nights rhythm and rhyme

From nightclubs and quaint forgotten bars

To star adorned bedrooms above parked cars

Intoxicated by the floral scent of you

Infecting my thoughts with serpentine visions of lust

Discarded lace and satin under the stasis of moon dust

Bodies writhing amongst the flickering flames of candlelight

Shadows dancing in carnal tribal celebration

Fingers wet with desire and temptation

The open blinds cast moonlit lines across the room

Shadows that fall and rise with every passing car

While I trace glossy lips with hungry fingertips

Mouths caress wantonly in the electricity of the dark

The silky smooth skin that blesses my fingers

Lost in the heat of you

Your thighs tight around me

Addicted to your feminine wiles

On the invisible shore of the night

That takes us closer to ecstasy

Wave after undulating wave

The tranquility broken by urgency

Carnal greed and fire possessing our souls

Extinguished by the caress of slumber

And on my lips your number...

© Richard Withey. All rights reserved.

I speak for those

who are breathless

and have lost their tongues,

their minds, but are still

uttering words

into space, still trying to

produce echoes

that bounce off of comets,

and fall to match

the rhythm of the rain;

so that even your

Tears have room

to speak

Papyrus stood poised amid everglades

Dactylis flourished, Ovina evergreen

both men and beast never knew thirst

Here once stood Atlantis, a finest Utopia 

now grim contours bare, a ruined glory

of charred hulls and half fallen masts

Shadows traced the speedy impetus

an invaluable commodity invariably

turned into a trivial enumeration of years

Men basked idle dreams of vanity

fallow at the brain, foul in speech

Time flew twofold, graves swift to yawn

Slowly, heaven drained the reservoir 

so privation inexorable proliferated 

aloft, Canaries sang of idly spent hours 

A costly sin for all that breathes is paid

in final days, they flounder crying in vain

when in oodles, wisdom, –they'd cast away

la-la-la, cry all whose sepulchers grope

sighing, groaning and moaning wasted fortes

that idling devoured and bestowed each one

with a shadow of a lifetime

               and so they cry, a cry never heard!

I watched a man in a cage

Silence drove him to insanity

Hours upon hours he stood

Mindlessly gazing on the floor

He longs his freedom more

I watched a man in cage

Spewing phlegm against the door

Circles, circles, circles for hours

In that cage nothing matters

Expect going around in circles

To him everyday is the same

A day far, far away from life!

Brave out one more storm,

a wise widower spoke in subtle tones.

brake off wrathful harangues

withdraw yourself from society

whatever doom befalls you

meet it with chivalry and valor

women, go back to your quarters

kneel down and sing a lofty

praise, but do not fall into weeping 

or seal your eyes with insolence,

cut your tresses with fresh scissors 

and hold it out into the wind

never fall for erudite, men equipped with quills

never lie down with priests and do shame

stumbling drunks are a bruised flock

and fallen men are damaged goods

they'll strip you bare, see how Bezeth moans!

tie a knot at the helm of your skirts

no debauchee shall claw freely and have

his way between your sheets

infirmities of a man only swell with time,

this is known, and

such crestfallen fellas say everything, 

most are iridescent in looks, 

some of them so handsome

their outward beauty surpasses virgin moons

do not bend before their spell

do not doubt your resolve, resist them

doubt will yoke your heart to serfdom

these words may wound than heal

however, if I should not speak 

our cause shall soon be devoured 

by eagle-sighted devils posed as allies

yes, all men seeking favors behind 

our lofty walls and fortifications are the enemy

do not recoil from their insidious plans

denounce their overbearing demeanor,

however domineering their pride, defy it

never let them pulverize your resolves

nor load your heart with grief 

when slopes steepen, for they will indeed

lied down here with me, I shall gently

press you against my bosom for

my soul knows what's best for you

strip

quickly

as fast as you can

the tears have already begun overflowing

get in the tub

the water flows around you

so warm and comforting 

or at least it should be

instead

i

am

kneeling down

sobbing 

and letting the tears 

mix

with the water

as i force air in through my lungs

and out from my throat

and a silent keen emerges from my contorted maw

gaping 

yet filled with

a noiseless

scream 

as i sob

and i sob 

the tears will not stop

i really

really

wanna go die

i feel

too much 

but eventually i stop

and get out 

with 

my eyes red

and heart empty once more

to be filled with tears again

I winced as her long slender fingers struck my face, tears streamed down my face and my legs wobbled under the weight of my sorrows.

"Can't you do anything right, you good for nothing piece of shit" she bellowed.

My sweaty hands shook and a shiver ran through my spine even at that hot summer afternoon. Her words struck me as lightening and my sobs became the only noise in the hallway apart from her distinct shouts.

From the corner of my eyes I could make out the amused expression on her son's faces. Jagged pieces of the broken porcelain vase still littered the pearl white marble floor.

"No food for you tonight, you bastard and I don't want to see your face. Take her to the attic."

With these words I was ushered into a small room located adjacent to the terrace, reeking of decay and the dwelling for filthy rats.

I curled into a ball in a corner overlooked by the window through which light penetrated from the full moon, my sole companion for the night. Sleep was sporadic and fitful, my eyes fluttered open from the nightmares more than once.

Dreams of having my skin scraped of by my mistress or again getting boiling water poured over my hands interrupted my sleep.

Sometimes my mother visited me and part of me cherished seeing her, she never spoke but her emerald almond shaped eyes always looked at me, her arms always held me even when the world broke out in the cries of bastard child. When the dream ended her absence left a throbbing ache in my chest.

Tonight in my dream, I was waiting for my father on the doorstep, just before the outbreak of dawn and the minutes turned into hours but he never came and the sun never rose.

I missed her and my father who came, on the third of every second month and with him tagged along his children, the lawful ones. I begged to him to take me back home and then his new family spoke to me of the squalor they are living in, of the lack of space in their homes for me.