The young graduate
Fresh out of school
Fired up
Ready to ease
Into the new cool
Maybe he sped
Maybe he was reckless
But this patch
This dry patch
Wasn’t there before
He looks back at his dreams
Then down at his hands
And he’s no longer there
He looked
But…
He wasn’t there.
Walking down
The few steps
Out from the banking hall
Heart rate slowing to a halt
And figures run through invisible sieves
Before your eyes
Maybe you hallucinate
Maybe you are on opiates
But this nothing
This gaping nothing
Wasn’t there before
You take a step back
Then look down
At your feet
But they aren’t there
You looked
But
You weren’t there.
She cradles her newborn
With
Her back against
A harsher world
Maybe she’s the worrier
Maybe paranoid
But this darkness
This horrid darkness
Was not there before.
She holds back tears
Looks down at her bosom
And they’re gone
She looked
But
She wasn’t there
Now I sit here
Wondering what
The morning will bring
Where next to occupy
How else to survive
Maybe it’s pessimism
Maybe I’m a cynic
But this hopelessness
This crass hopelessness
Wasn’t there before.
I slip under my sheets
Make to close my eyes
But they vanished
I took a peek
But
I wasn’t there….
I wasn’t.
