Satori

~ Purpleanais

image

Breath escaping to the frosted air of a New Year’s morn,
my eyes drink anew of the old sun rising ‘ore my city.
That dirty steel—cold stone—my circus, my love, my home.
All my words—broken promises—linger there still;
beseeching my faulted and weakened flesh for reparation

Looking deep within, a small bubble rising
could it be, hope buried and now struggling
to escape its hardened shell-yolk of an egg-
yellow-orange as a slice of sunrise
reaching the surface, breaking through rubble & lies

I stand before thee naked but sanguine oh Sun—
reforged by the conflagration of a thousand bitter falls—
bathe me in silent avidity that I may toil for change unceasing
as even now this sardonic mind scrambles to clothe me
mending the breach with garments crafted of forsaken vows

It is written in tongues old and forgotten
the race of men clings on despite its frailty
in them, an innate duality —the propensity to self-destruct
and yet rise again—the power to burst out of the hearse
though the knell has already rung across the earth

This cycle of calamity and joy I yearn to break
the stupefacient lull of this wheel within a wheel—
this sugar-coated mortal coil I can no longer stomach
I will spit it from my mouth with words of vehemence
No more days will I waste in a listless haze!

out of the caves we came, out of the dark I shall emerge
defy my weaknesses, embrace my strength—I will purge
my head of doubts that have haunted me for too many seasons
reclaim my brain from itself, suffer no further ransom nor treason
nurture hope—the precious stone handed down from my ancestors

*Another collaboration with my evil twin Matt @ This Mortal Flesh. It’s always so much fun writing with him and he makes me work hard (which I love) but also, we really do gel so well. Thank you, Matt. As usual, it’s been a pleasure — love you, bro 💜*

Image credit: Procrust @deviantart.com

35 thoughts on “Satori”

  2. Thank YOU Nat! I needed to be pulled out of my cave. I’ve been going through that whole New Year resolution thing, so that’s where this piece came from with me. Same old promises… This year I swear it will be different! Love writing with you twin!

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    1. As I said last night, I will pull you out of that cave every time you disappear for too long 😉
      No New Year resolutions for me, that piece for me was more about showing my determination to “keep the black dog at bay” because that fucking beast always strikes when I’m feeling good and messes everything up

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  8. I like this. It’s a fascinating mix of original imagery and cliché. I love hope rising like a bubble, “to escape its hardened shell-yolk of an egg” That is vivid, beautiful – and, when you read the next line, somehow nauseating as well. Very clever! “Garments crafted of forsaken vows” – super! “Out of the caves we came, out of the dark I shall emerge” – strong image.
    xx

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  9. Read this first on Matt’s blog. Excellent work, as always! 😆 As I said to Matt, the swelling of defiance over apathy made me want to come charging out of my own cave! Always a pleasure to see you two working together 😊 Wonderful work with a dazzling word choice!

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    1. Read it first on Matt’s blog?! I’m appalled I wasn’t your first port of call, Adam!! Loool joking
      Thank you so much, Matt and I get deep into it every time we write together. As you can tell. He was into all the “apathy” stuff and I was like “dammit, I’m going to bring back the hope and defiance whatever you do, man!” though it was difficult at times as he was pulling me into the “despair” haha

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      1. I saw his post first, sorry…😔😆
        Yeah that definitely seems to be the case, and I applaud it. It doesn’t surprise me to hear that you brought the defiance, either! 😆 Despair has its place every now and again, but I’m glad you didn’t get pulled under completely ☺ Brilliant work, as everm

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  12. Reads like a poem that was written in the 14th century, love the feel of the words and the ancient, really hard to write something that feels at once, ancient and venerable, whilst deeply relatable. Well done to you both!

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