The Smog Apartment

MMLXVI greets your dour face

the other side of the gloomy door

promises unfettered peace and grace

entering the threshold

clean linen blasts your nostrils

and your soul shudders from the cold

past the kitchen—on the couch

sits a laden figure enshrouded—

melancholically slouched

your eyes soak in its every breath

light grey is vacuumed;

light grey expels the notion of death

a mystic force compels you

to conform to the rules of this place

and forgo the grief-begotten dew

your lips pull on a blue pen

dark grey is vacuumed;

dark grey paints your lungs’ den

it rests in your body longer

than it had with the figure beside you

for you yearn to sate the hunger

this hunger for a love long gone

it’s an insatiable thing but you try

to make it until dawn

foolishness massages your temples

as time is a lost child in a wicked forest

bereft of any hope that might assemble

ragged branches thorn into existence

blackened trees contort, ache, and wail

for their pain is the zenith of persistence

the white sun above strips the land

of the nutrients it so starves for

but you dare not look to your hand

this monochromatic realm is your liberation

from the strife that chokes your truth

and promises damnation

your dew can’t wet your cheeks

and that brings you safety

from the grueling, brittle weeks

these shadowy promises are lies

but falsehood here is veracious

so it’s the only tool that pries

your pupils ensnare your eyes whole

pitch is vacuumed;

pitch expels from your despondent soul

a smile chains your face

but your eyes still cry aridly

for it is reality you must yet face

however, you long for the now—n-now

so your mind wanders off

despite what you might avow

claims of isolation and despair

shackle your thoughts firmly

surely there’s just something in the air

but more vile thoughts swarm in droves

no one matters—no love frolics amongst the living

this bleak void is the hope in which you strove

therefore you pin it to your heart

and listen closer for the doom—

for the dejection that will start

ghost all who would claim ardor

sever the fragile bonds of friendship

eat away at hope in this larder

allow despondency to prevail

silence your faint, murmuring heartbeat

claw away the fluttering light and avail

covet heinous desires and actions

cover yourself in slews of scarlet

coincide with desolation and dilapidation

revel in the glory of a hopeless forever

and praise the fortitude of uncertainty

as it kisses and kills your hapless endeavors

damned are those who fight—

certain is the right to not exist

darkness consumes those who are bright

this place is a blackhole starved

pledge fealty and become subservient

to the future you have carved

abandon love and attain obliviousness

to any speck of a soul that would say otherwise

and speak against your loch ness

all is aright here and devoid of pain

you can’t actualize the immolation within

there’s only naught to gain

coughing equates to the highest sin

so you cage them—bind them

behind a tearless grin

sludge swivels in your throat

to and fro to lay claim

on your breathing; a gloat

urgency knocks on the door

three soft bangs echo

in your ignorant ears forevermore

gloss covers your new moon eyes

crippled oxygen reaches for a cactus

upon the windowsill and cries

your body stiffens and runs dark grey

down—down you slide from the couch

to become maggot prey

smoke corrals and coddles you lovingly

it breathes you in and reanimates you

you’ve yet to escape reality

promises of unfettered grief and anguish

await you on the other side of the gleeful door

MMLXVI greets your bright face to vanquish…