Nuptia

Deep within the heart, a fairy is poised to fly
Her wings flutter in vain as she is caught-
frozen on the icing of a multi-layered cake
Perched atop it
trapped in the hands of a man
in a waistcoat as black as magic,
while her gown flows flawless, falling like snow
Angels on the steps below - ready, arms outstretched.
bracing for the fall, warning, forecasting...
their screams are silent
for they fall on deaf ears
for love is a spotlight that blinds all senses
and all that's above, below and around
this for now is the top of the world
the moment, the happiest of our lives
for we spend all our lives yearning for it
and the rest of our lives learning from it
running away like a fly trapped in the
clutches of a malicious insect
transformed suddenly from a harmless
little spectator in the corner
to the chief justice of your life trial

And as the applause fades into a death knell
you choke in your own claustrophobic dreams,
struggling to escape, struggling to get away
as the insect winds its dark ropes around your eyes...
and later in the darkness,
once the lights are gone,
all but those sacred memories remain.
And then, when memories aren't enough, they part the curtains
wondering what it's like on the outside
and the sunlight stuns their eyes,
flows in through the white lace,
through the glass panes and reveal the mustiness inside.
the muck, the dirt, the mess they have rolled into
The damp, dirty disarray

the cake is eaten, infested and rotten
the gowns are packed away, moth-eaten
as they lie naked, facing away from each other,
a book in his hand and a comb in hers -
she picks up the feathers from the pillows
that were torn apart in passion that had long since died -
evaporated like the sweat their bodies had left behind;
stacks them all together
in one corner and sweeps the floor,
now with a robe on, and he lights a cigarette.
He searches for the ashtray that was never there.
He puts his clothes on, and she hers.
He brushes traces of the ash off his slipppers,
and it melts into the mess on the floor.
Outside, everything seems so beautiful,
they'd love to open the door and let the world in,
they pack their bags, dust the room clean, tidy up the mess,
use the vaccum one last time, kiss each other one last time,
they don't even know what that means anymore
they shrug their shoulders,take one last deep breath
and walk out the door
each from their own end to their own new beginnings,
the room shut, forever in darkness.