Grown A Little Higher

She painted the ‘Battlefield’

onto her face

with criss-crossed

‘Emotions’…

and walked

… differently…

away from the

(Previous) Incarnation

she had just Discarded.

“I shall no more

‘Shrink’ to fit in

anywhere…

‘Acceptance’

is a self-given Gift…

and, I belong

equally amongst Life’s

Flowers, Thorns and Thistles.”

No Entry (Ever Again!)

‘Access Denied’

… is the best

Weapon to use

upon the Toxic.

You cannot

manipulate,

argue or placate

… Silence,

a Brick Wall,

a Closed Door.

Give a ‘snake’

no slither-room

within your

bright Energy…

and, it will

confuse, anger

and frighten

them… into a

Pain unbearable.

Bowers, Bows, And Bovver Boys

Beginning with ‘Entropy’

… 2 love hearts

hating the same thing…

and, they put a ring on it.

“You haven’t seen her

‘Smile’, have you?

You’d be more than ‘head

over heels’ you’d

understand and become

a (Human) Bowerbird.”

I can taste your ‘Energy’

… and, I’m murderous,

afflicted, and withdrawn

… like an arCHed bow…

coming for your Emotions

straight as a damned arrow.

Suspicious Comfort Zones

And, beneath

Raven Black

Banners…

we Frown,

READY

for all things

Negative…

the ‘Light’

is Mistrusted

… and,

‘Peace’

a Trick,

Trojan Horse

.. a way into

those

‘Vulnerable

Places’…

which instead

of ‘Sharing’

we DEFEND!

… And That, As They Say, Is That

No Fear of ‘Derision’

… puts you up

upon a Higher Level

… than the insecure.

True ‘Confidence’

requires no Mask…

and remains Silent

when gaining ground

… and Obliterating

‘Targets’… which

the clowns, fakes,

and braggarts…

cannot even get Near.

Backing Off Towards The Nearest Exit Point

It is just so Unfamiliar

… you remained

‘Calm’ when I made

a ‘Mistake’… and,

instead of ‘Rage’

… you asked me if

I was going to be okay

… I’m confused…

and, really not sure

that I can be around

someone so… so…

‘Unemotional’

and (Scarily) Different.

Uncouth, Sir!

Absolutely ‘No Shame’

… you grinned as

she tutted the word

‘Problematic’…

and, belly-laughed

when asked to

explain yourself…

answering calmly

“I would dent and

buckle the safety bar

of your preposterous

‘High Horse’

position… damaging

your fragile ‘Ego’

forever and a day

… afore we’d even

got halfway-in to my

Fract/ured Personality.”

Paul Tristram is a Welsh ‘Street’ Writer who has poems, short stories & flash fiction published in hundreds of different publications all around the world. He yearns to tattoo porcelain bridesmaids instead of digging empty graves for innocence at midnight, this too may pass, yet.

His novel “Crazy Like Emotion”, short story collection “Kicking Back Drunk ‘Round The Candletree Graves” and full-length poetry collection “The Dark Side Of British Poetry: Book 1 of Urban, Cinematic, Degeneration” are available from Close To The Bone Publishing.