On The Greatest Politician

I have always been, and always will be
Ev’rything and ev’ryone, ever and 
Always, to ev’rybody. My honeyed
Words and grand declamations, they dazzle
And confound, seduce and charm, soothe and burn
You with the searing heat of wild desire
And the roaring march of your heart’s fealty. 
You will love me, adore me, enthrone me, 
For I am your true love, your highest cause,
Your life’s grandest anthem, your marching tune
Your sheikh, your boss, your chief, your Tun, your Lord. 

On Being Alone

What does it mean to be here alone?
I see and hear the hubbub, the smiles
And laughter of people less lonely
Than I am. I marvel at their ease.
That calm sense of knowing that they are
Exactly where they need to be, with
The people they ought to and want to
Be with. I imagine what it must
Feel like, to be like them, to be them.
My envy eats me like a cancer.

On My Crown of Envy

Gritted teeth grinding into rough cinders
The ash of a thousand spurns in my mouth
While you glory in the mud of smugness
Your face cloying with its curdled pleading

I hurl my hurts into this black abyss
And now from this yawning, drowning distance
I can feel the dark fire of thwarted hopes 
They scald with the flames of unholy wrath

And this crown of envy melts my skull down
With the heat of a thousand glaring suns
That burns these sunken cheeks and boils away
My angry tears - they wither with the light.  

On a Happy Report

I am here to report
that I am happy
happy, happy beyond my wildest dreams
and that despite your
most fervent hopes
I did not fall into despair
I did not flail into disrepair

and despite your
most confident expectations
your leaving
was the best thing
that could have happened
your absence
was what truly saved me

I am here to report
that I need nothing from you
that my happiness no longer depends
on wondering if you are happy too.