the citadel of beggers

A quest for love, honour and all those things that can go horribly wrong

 

1. walk of angels

 

 

I have walked her streets

walked below angels

passed by their mournful faces

alive in architecture

invisible fogs of forgetfulness

clutched painfully

to my head.

 

I walked until the eighth day

she came in whisper

of fire-lit movement

greeted with caravans of desire.

we bathed together in hot springs

oiled our travellers feet

aware of the oasis

so easily a mirage of sapphires

 

she said, ‘you’re love is my oxygen.’

I replied, ‘let me be your concubine-

let me try to never fail

make me more than any other male.’

we continued our journey together

somehow made easier

revising small truths

for others to inspire

until it was time to stop

and fly back home

my love an agony in her eyes

these simple things of mine

are shadows of what you make them.

 

 

 

2. fortress of ivory

 

 

like bandits we kissed

stealing time

I am a mask floating

in the calmness of deepest rhyme

no more than a ghost

in a human shell

behind glass we touch

 

wireless & unplugged

I play out my own human hell.

 

I am a crow of many secrets

captivated by assorted tongues

that speak to me of the world

I have come to know and the

world where nothing is undone.

waiting for my goddess to leave

her ivory chamber

I wait in poppy fields

in disappearing summer.

I watch her from high above and deep below,

& imagine in my deepest despair

that  for me she never shows.

death becomes an antidote

yet unproven

for a lack of love

for which nothing soothes

 

 

 

3. inside the citadel of beggars

 

dark hounds hounds you

through the maze of corridors and streets

who welcomes us as walls close in?

who breaks bread for us as we reach a dead end?

I will not share with you

 

these deeps wells of dreams

I hide behind forest pines

where even the wind

is a faraway voice

crying out for the smell of you.

 

inside the citadel of beggars

starving away their wares

crimes of love flourish

I walk there

lost & bewildered

through some cruel choice of light

my presence  found in a bloom of flares

 

night brings with it

aching feet

& a canopy of stars

the moon as always

a false companion

to the candle light of my hope

I walk out past the walls of the citadel

not knowing where you are

not realising I am just another infidel

while you wait at the altar

for us to elope

i should have forseen this tragedy

like all crimes of heart

Author's Note

this was originally 3 separate poems but they were all similiar in tone and so i thought I'd conbine them to create some sort of narrative - tell me if you think it works overall

Reviews

[Raef C. Boylan]

(1) "she said, 'you're love is my oxygen.' " [your]

I think they work together nicely; you judged the tones as matching and I agree with the judgement. Seems like a continuation of the story.
Keep in mind though, if you're looking for decent feedback, people tend to rush through poems of this length. If they can stand alone and you want in-depth critique, maybe consider separating them.

Great work.
Thanks for sharing this with us.