A Visit to the Gallows

when things change sudden
motions and speech patterns
lilting heads tilted
against imaginary hollows

each time knowing stares
turn blank

and each time gallows
creak in breezes

the sinking of submarines
to depth charges
seems romantic

compared to awkward deaths
of moments that belong to no-one
watching sand slipping
sinking

feelings don't die
expressions of love linger
on fingertip traces
long after the unsettled memories fade

how could you return to witnessing
couches morosely delved into
silence begging Freud to ask
questions that will go unanswered?

does the sting of betrayal
wash away after
loneliness settles in?

how could you say "no"
when those gallows hang daunting
images of solitude fleeting
anxiety of self twitching

last breaths?

familiarity is safer than self
in the din of confrontation
skin puncturing skin with
delicate touches


but when I witness half-told stories
collapse into patterns
I once knew

those gallows fit your neck

with my head atop

your strangling gasps

my mouth