On the Lethe

She stood still in filthy silence,

Washing herself in weary ruddy light.

She tires quickly and only sleeps fitfully,

Chemical-laden and stuck, in-time, out-of-place.

 

Each moment freezes as it passes her by—

In static contemplation she wills them away.

And in the welter of a Helter-Skelter

Diurnal life, she remembers nothing, anyway.

 

Plans were hatched but died shortly thereafter (hereafter).

Some unkindly creator killed the child to save the mother.

And in her stifling, trifling bed,

She swears at herself to, “Wake up,” or, at least, stop sleeping.

They died neglected, but she grows older and older.

Lessons in school, sermons and lectures

Smack of abstract science, not practice—her parents told her,

Be less timid, be proactive, bolder.

She doesn’t think it possible—she goes to sleep

Earlier and wakes up colder.

 

The outlines of her eyes flash red—

Tears or anger—neither quite fits.

She swears ignorance, really only positing

That she, in some ways, exists.

 

She spends most of her days forgetting it.

–

Into the Fold, Cursive

 

The Shepherd:
I can’t say I’ve always been honest
You can’t say I’ve done a disservice
The girl, she’s just a child
She’s got a lot to learn and I’m helping out

Your deceit is under your wing
You won’t let her know you know it’s not appropriate
But all that hair, and porcelain
You swear it’s more than mere lust
Into the fold, into the fold
If she knew what you do
The pristine routine to fool the rube
The gentle gentleman, the loathed Lothario
You feign you change your ways but we know, yeah we know
Can’t you can’t quell this need for submissives?

The Shepherd:
Oh such lovely girls
To lead each tender little lamb
Into the fold, into the fold
And you my pet, the sweetest yet
I’ll hold you closest to my heart
Into the fold

The Lamb:
I was in the student union
Studying for an English quiz
He came up and asked directions to the new auditorium
We walked up and down the campus, no one had ever heard of it
He was so embarrassed when he realized he had the wrong college
He offered to buy us coffee for the time and effort wasted
We drank and talked for so long, we started
Making plans for dinner

The Shepherd:
She was young and impressionable
I pretended to need directions
She led me all over the campus
All the while I’m asking her questions
She agreed to have a cup of coffee
That’s when I started to lay it on heavy
Once she learned I studied Dostoevsky
It was in the bag