Elnathan John

stripped
tripped
ripped
...

DINNER TIME

Do we sometimes bask in our delusions,
And become tourists in lands that never were?
...

I
It is only now that I see
The handprints all over you
Astonishing how quick I swallowed
...

the breeze blows a crippling cold,
caning my naked nipples and nose
I listen for a sign:
there is no wisdom in the wind
...

sleep my kid, sleep my child
run fast in your dreams, run wild
dream of lakes full of milk
dream of beds soft as silk
...

you used to dream
of kings with balloons and candy
you used to dream…
and i would laugh
...

Will you walk back with me
to my matchbox home?
Will you walk
not because I want you to see
...

I would like to exit this dreary stage
With regal pomp and feral rage
I would like the audience and stage players
To utter my name in all their prayers
...

SONG IN FOUR PARTS

I
Mock my dreams
...

PLAYING GOD

Only God…
Could love you for yourself alone…
...

4.30am
It’s in the debris of my heart
Dinky in all the mess
I find it’s not been torn apart
...

Racing,
Stopping,
pulsating…
It’s me thinking,
...

You just whipped me with the ropes
That lined the boundaries
That our fathers chose
You whipped me hard
...

Raindrops and showers
Rosebuds and flowers
Can you see it changing, forming?
Do you see it becoming…?
...

The night felt right
For low tones and whispers
A perfect night
for lovers and deep sleepers
...

Some historians say
Many years ago
The seed of confusion
And division
...

I think it would be nice to know,
The way from this earth I would go;
The way I’d bow out of this stage
Whether with pomp or else with rage…
...