Inspired by Ascent of the Blessed by Hieronymus Bosch (with hints of other Visions of the Hereafter polyptychs: Terrestrial Paradise, Fall of the ****** into Hell and Hell)

I have heaven on a plate,
a vertical axis,
with a horizontal frame of reference.

These panels depict the playbook;
my mind elicits my play in any given moment.

We zoetrope the days away,
   "we" being the many parts of self,
   "days" being ill-defined measures of a life,
                  spin upon spin.

I guess at where I'll stop - or disregard it,
as my chin tilts back and legs give way,
I'm forever caught,
     snagged upon another dreamer.

Should my gaze match,
     I'm anchored,
          washed clean of any remnants.

Trusting fanciful perfection, with eyes trained,
      it is their want that binds me.

Let me be saved before the picture changes;
drag me just beyond the weight of yesterday.

       Whisper stillness in my ear,
   rest me for whatever a while is,
               before the next time.


© 𝓛𝓮𝓲𝓰𝓱𝓗 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓

da Vinci - study of skull

I'm lost in there
battered between form and function
existing in the guesswork
institutionalised by containment
figured out on the block
measured by what takes up space

every layer perfectly in place
to provide freedom to conform

I merge and merge again
despite being part of no plan
unstoppable in my inexplicable existence  

tip out my untapped potential
lay me on the table
busy yourself with dissection
broken up into components
I can do no more
cannot be put back together

an empty head
with no view of itself
an offered up cadaver

(any day of the week)

© 𝓛𝓮𝓲𝓰𝓱𝓗 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓

Inspired by Francesco Gioli's Acquaiola

balance can be found in the offset
the heavy water jug your posture tilts for
      a mirror of the landscape
  sparse, endless, lonely

distant from the body
      swept up and onwards by the wind

     all held together, poised
                hoping that's what saves you -
when you want, need, fear your knees will buckle
       everything to smash
for  it  all  to  lay   in   p  i  e  c  e   s

where you decide you'll pick none of it up

never carry that weight again
never return to the place it all
                                                      f
        ­                                              e
                 ­                                    l
                                                       l    
                                
    never look upon that ground
never feel so tightly held in place again
    so tightly bound
              as a means of survival

      just collapse
         and lay still a while
       feel the same wind, now as a breeze
               feel what you held together ~ unbind

       spin on the spot
let your clothing flare
      take up space

release.
every.
pent.
up.
emotion.
that.
you.
thought.
needed.
holding.
in.

scream
    dance
    r­un
        sing

be free from balancing the offset
          free from the trek

roll down the hills laughing
smile whilst you
       cry-the-whole-****-thing-out

               let it go

stand unburdened
just cry it out
don't carry it any further
you can let it go.

© 𝓛𝓮𝓲𝓰𝓱𝓗 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓

Inspired by Paysage en Bleu by Andre Brasilier

take my dreams
mingle them with water
combine with shadow so I'll find depth
define the run, what should I drag along

folding in two, halving, imprinting elsewhere
there is no time for these thoughts
no time to rise up in defiance
no need to know where I head, only onwards
the wild is a hoax on a linear track

clarity just one precise second
separated entirely from the rest
it could be studied perfectly
and I'll live and die doing so
but it'll account for nothing
other than a stilled picture of me in motion

I feel the ground beneath my feet
the thunder of direction
imagine there's no time to feel anything
other than nothing, or blue


my view - I feel hides in the dirt
my reflection - is too coloured by hurt
my tomorrow - identity I'll reassert
my today - I'm all action, mind inert

I won't falter if I stay alert

© 𝓛𝓮𝓲𝓰𝓱𝓗 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓