In Limbo Poem by JAE JAE

any other time I’m
spinning longside forward,
wishing hard times would bend toward better ones ahead; flying
fast to the veiled end or
flashing green and red, back
to when it felt like—
Everything Right.
any other time it’s
other spaces winning, other
longings and beginnings; sparking sounds of echoes strike my
head and kindling made from coddled messes behind me
match the quick, shooting rhythm of why not why not…why
not.
any other time I’m
gunning for
fear holding, locking, scolding,
beating open feelings dead; for
shame shocking limbs to
a lethargic halt; for rises…
and falls. and syntax stuck in past perfect tense.

but now, the bass line slams
against the ceiling
in my skull and, settling,
lulls my eyelids closed. The present sends me reeling and I
want to hang here, still,
stuck in between the dreams of
what I was and
what you will—
I breathe safe in limbo.
Your hand is hot—
A phantom now.