I Have Found The Serpent Under’t The Flower Poem by Will Gibbs

In the Duke’s hall, we sat opposed
Myself in Navy, her in moave
Our wires became crossed
Within our minds we became lost

Up became down
Smile became frown
Below became above
Affection became love

Tediously dull, with no content; my name
A chance to inject some colour; my fame
To be associated with her; odourless perfection
Reason usurped by impulse, lust prevailed

Our overlap was brief to say the least
Shallow I know, long enough for my eyes to feast
Then her lips became un-pursed
Her liquid silk pervaded my tactile touch

I the ‘friend, the man with no hope
We meet, rub, we leave, how can I cope?
I didn’t expect that I would crave higher
But within me this core of rampant fire

Where do I stand, where do I lie?
You could give my life value, to live, to die
Your answer, the answer, define my fate
Do I dare ask the overwhelming question?

Am I the one?
Would it be fun?
These questions so easy to propose
Uncertainty, insecurity, my foes
I can’t allow myself to ask
Fearful how long my illusion can last

We meet, I have the intentions there
But that is all they are ‘intensions’, to be fair
I plan what to say, what to avoid
Under the heat, all plans reduced
To simple, mindless, drivel

Her shape in the fluid drapes
Her face in the rainbow oil, languid shapes
The harmony of Cello, her voice I caught
She permeates all, polluting all thought

The more I think, the more I fear
For I fear what I am not near
Not the hulk, the rugby player
Nor complexion, but peal away this layer
To reveal, yet is individual the thing to be?
There will always be those better than me

She is such that she can pick and choose
Reality is, the regular win the individuals loose
The extravert, those who stand alone; a dangerous gamble
The good looking, the normal; a safe bet

Perfection is temporary, romanticism an illusion
Submerged and drunk on dreams, within the confusion
The devil plays on unmet desires, hunger and thirst
You become corrupted, expand and burst
Within the trails of deception and lies
One soon stumbles, falls, the end draws nigh

We panic and stutter, condemn and shatter
We destroy, I stand clutching the tatters
The pathetic remains of hopes and dreams
I stare at the hems, the edges, the seams

I look too see if the tatters could every be one
I search my basement for sympathy, none
I search harder look deeper, I find a box
Within the box, questions untold,
Should I have, was I too rash?
Either way, in my heart I hold the ash