Fumbling Nightmares

""Be thus when thou art dead, and I will kill thee And love thee after" - (Othello act 5 Scene 2 ")

i.

 

How can this man know what is wrong

when rightness gives no measure,

when he is tied through love to lies

or writhing  mistranslations

firing through the patterned brain

 

How can he turn his heart to love

when love distrusts him so

and he has not the strength of soul

to face the nightmare’s perfect gaze

and whisper there of honesty

 

How can he wear some moral cloak

yet seethe in dreams

so dark they wince at any light

and bite the stars out one by one

feasting on all forms of care

 

How can he gaze upon the world

and feel the rush of timelessness

that binds him to this life, so bright,

so strange, that he can only shake

then, somehow, lose the point of time...

 

 ii.

 

He fumbles with her beauty:

blisters burn his left hand

cradled in the right

but cuffs of dream and nightmare

grip him tight

 

He grinds his teeth yet cannot wake

and, staring outward from this cell,

says, " Tell me who you are, my love,

and in that moment, listening,

I will show you who you ought to be..."

 

iii.

 

Alive or dead,

he is just dark comedy,

the jealous glove of grinning fate

whose hunger for the soul

is never sated...

Author's Note

Author Notes
Quote:
"Be thus when thou art dead, and I will kill thee
And love thee after -
(Othello act 5 Scene 2 ")

Reviews

[Angi]

Peter, this piece held so many sharp images for me. The blistered left hand cradled in the right and biting the stars out one by one were just two that popped out when I read. Reading this in context with your notes shows what insane jealousy can do. It has eaten him alive and killed any love he had. I am so happy I could place you in my contest. Thank you for submitting. Angi~

Hi! Glad you liked it. Thanks for your thoughtful review - and the Mention, of course!