D i s s o c i a t i o n
I emerge
out of myself
from a cocoon
of lost visions
I hold shadows
of faded nightmares
sleeping metamorphosis
dissociation, it is.
to master the art,
I must purge you from me,
Shed your memories like a dead skin,
Cut you out of my heart.
My heart, swaddled in bandages, must heal.
Then, you will be removed.
Removed
from this trembling mass
of me
devastated
by your shutter-click exit
left me slithering
in shadows
that were us.
Slithering through life
with the lightbulb broke
and no map to guide me home.
No directions, no safety net, no
dress rehearsal.
This is it, the Big Show
watch me emerge from livid sleep
and crawl towards light.
Your words breathe
out of my skin
as darkness sinks in--
First published in Prism Galliard - August 2000.