Swallowed - Luke Staten

I have only two emotions

Careful fear and dead devotion

I can’t get the balance right

With all my marbles in the fight

I see all the ones I went for

All the things I had it in for

I won’t cry until I hear

‘Cause I was not supposed to be here

                          ― The National, ‘Dont Swallow the Cap’

Velvet beds of moss, soaked in lavender oil,

Salt on the tongue, and freshly rained soil 

Deep breath  in the first light of the morning,

Feeling the traffic of blood through my veins.

Buried in snow, holding up a shovel,

Atlas bears the weight of a bubble,

Sisyphus treks on a treadmill still

Warm dragon whispers, psalms get stuck in my throat.

Broken sonnets purl beneath the surface

Tension builds, but won’t  break through,

Buoyant thoughts shifting and contending,

A labyrinth of restless synapses and inherited wisdom.

Intertwined body and mind, 

They won’t listen to each other’s gesture,

While astral projections reflect their glistening light,

Silhouetted synonyms have a tight grip on my throat,

Soaked into the walls of my mind,

Photographs you took, they haunt me now,

Emotions lazy and laced with grief,

Staring at my hollow bones, carved out,

Lilac and dark chocolate, your energy surrounds me,

Choking on pomegranate seeds, my knees hit the ground,

Notions  swirling around me, as I try to find direction.