My world's corners fold over
And thread themselves through the panels
Of a brand new manga
Not a week old but read twice
And consuming me again
In a world I understand but can't touch
In a life I recognise but can't feel
Until I follow my world through the edges of the scene
And clamber in
And soak in the smell of the ink
That becomes a mash of leaves and bodies
All placed for me so that I can lose myself
And find someone else that I might have been

A chattering of metal to metal
A hushed whisper
Broken only by the limits of closeness
No message lost along lines of muttering
And those confused caught quickly
No patience stored within those thin sheets
All rushed to fill this screen

Settling spirits lose their fire
Drifting down from smoky skies
To tangle up in earthly hair
In closed eyes, in hums, in sighs, in air.

Far flung the thoughts of old;
Duty deserts them, passion sold -
Youth yearned for long ago
Now squandered, now lost, now caught, now go.

Pretty purpose fades to dust
Desire's deception burns with lust
Nurtured knowledge cast away
To try, to fail, to be replaced
With goals more worthy
Than empty success
To find, to wonder, to love, to bless.

Why are you falling so far without me
You said we could never be free
you said the ground was too far
For us to reach
Don't leave me here
Don't leave me here
I'm losing my sight
And I'm struggling to hear


Why are you running away
 you said we were here to stay
I can't believe you'd leave me in these handcuffs
A captive of my own brain
Don't leave me now
Don't leave me now
I can't understand
Why?
Where?
When?
How?

85 miles up and climbing still
We lost our footing and we fell uphill
We kept rolling in the skies
We could be-
We said

We could be anything we want to
As long as we live in our own 2
Dimensional
Dimensional
Freedom

25 feet under and we're digging down
We never gave up running into the ground
But you left me with my
Hands *****
To clean yours

I'm losing all sense of direction
I'm losing all my sensations
I can't connect my emotions
With the fires in my heart

Waiting for some inspiration
With destination unknown
Unheard
Unused
To settle in the sludge of my
Closed off mind
As if sitting doing nothing
Could summon beauty with no
Effort into reach
And yet still the ache of my arm
Prevents me from snaring
Even the closest of concepts
Between my fingers

And here I find myself again
In early hours of morning dew,
Drizzle, showers, spats of rain,
An unsteady beat to match my strides
And could the mist replace the hours lost?
Hours spent with no purpose
But for avoiding dreams

Yes here my heart finds comfort, peace
Amidst the overgrown and dying
Besides the flowing of a manmade stream
I see beauty in the leaves
Not perfect no but intricate
Refined
Each put in place for some purpose
To stimulate the mind

And like some pointless explorer I make my way between undergrowth
Twisting and stretching away from nettles
But caring little if I'm stung
Each tree I recognise as a friend
And logs as fallen graves
Each bird sings of a new day
And a new song
And the hope
Such hope
Remains.