The Colour In Your Voice. Poem by Dónall Dempsey

“I’m glad to see
the colour coming back into your voice.”
You say brightly
as if...
you were a primary schoolteacher

As if...
you just hadn’t thrown me away.
“Yeah...”
I say

“...yeah! ”
That night
unable to sleep
unable to cry
I bang my head against the wall
untill the blood comes
& runs down my face
in place of tears.

I stand naked in the rain
swallowed up by the sound
of the deluge & the darkness.
I stand naked
in the rain
...& cry.