Three Obsessions

Obsession number one

look around you, but keep it

to yourself:  this is

the gratuitous strife we were invited to, this is the scene

where affliction wrecks

the sienna-heart

well before the end is due: you

may choose to deliver a message

of no surrender, but your death

will remain a pending

matter

Obsession number two

oh, the gleeful state

of minds accepting the ticking

of a lifespan

as more than what it is:

might we bear witness to this delusion, blood

a pot of ink and flesh

a scroll,

and yet, despite such

determinations, we shall not

leave the world a better place

Obsession number three

hear the news:  buried

in some unfamiliar site, languishing

like our dearest dead, there is a realm you

can call your own; listen

to its primitive chant

of the wild

and untamed, and boldly

exhume its treasures before you retreat to it yourself: this

is your fate,

the fairest prize

...

Obsession Number One received an Honourable Mention from the Dark Poets' 'Small Space, Deep Impact' competition