anonymous, he walks home after another forgettable and uneventful day - the sun hadn't set, but it being the deepest winter in years the sky had suddenly morphed from it's predictable dark grey to a sudden black and night - wet underfoot, he still took the short cut through the local park feeling safe in the knowledge his leather boots would keep his feet dry - the crunch and slush of the dirt path and gravel underfoot comforted him, along with the knowledge he had some soup ready to warm up once he arrived home - the blinding yellow, orange and red lights of wet-weather peak hour traffic were now nothing but smudges against the mist and fog from somewhere behind the trees.
the park was silent except for the drip drip dripping of the saturated trees and leaves, weeping with the day's rain and the night's mist - if there was anything, or anyone, lurking in the bushes and trees at surrounded him, he was oblivious - quietly thinking his way through his own internal world.
drifting around a bend in the path, he saw what looked like a large fallen branch lying across the path - it had been a couple of days since he'd walked the path, so there was no real concern or suspicion - a black lump around the curve - watching it as he approached, he thought he saw it move, but assumed it was his mind trying to scare him - he lived alone - and he saw it twitch, roll, and sit up
startled, he stopped - it was a young man dressed in black - a black leather jacket - from the corner of his eye he saw a possum bolting through the grass and clawing it's way up a large tree - the young man stood up, taking big breaths of air, and dug his hands into the leather jackets pockets - "what the fuck are you doing here, huh?" - the possum watched from above - "no, nothing, sorry, im just walking home"
"what the fuck, huh? what are you doing here?" he begun walking closer, his hands still deep in his pockets
"im just walking home, please"
"pay a toll or some shit, give us ya wallet"
"please, i don't have much money."
"give me ya wallet motherfucker"
he punched him in the stomach - the click of his ring connecting with a button on his jacket - falling to the ground and splashing into the flooded gravel path
moaning like mourning mother - gasping for air like the buried alive - vision of actuality exploded in slow motion - the young man kicked him in the chest, despite a feeble attempt to protect himself with his hands - the final blow defeated all instincts he had to defend himself and so he lay beaten on the wet ground - the young man padded his pants and jacket pockets until he found the wallet, brown worn out leather, fat with useless receipts and faded movie tickets - ripping it the young man stuffs it down his pants - "now i know where you live bitch" - and with a stinging slap in the face, he ran away, sloshing his way down the path - still gasping for breath, his cheek freckled with wet gravel, he opens his eyes, nice and wide, only to see the possum still clawing to the tree, looking down at him, staring at him - eyes wider - weak - his mind is thrashed with a lifetime of degrading and humiliating memories that he can't shake - painting his thoughts a sour red - he begins to cry - his tears stingily warm against his face - he rolls onto his back - lying flat across the gravel path like a fallen branch from the trees weeping with the day's rain and the night's mist
***
sniffles
folds the newspaper
one last cup of coffee
before the last time
before it's time to wake up
follow the leader
in sexy whips and chains
follow the leader
games children play
as the grown ups watch the ocean
turn around
up-side-down
a distant heartbeat
causing the waves
to crash and burn
louder at night
as we try and sleep
the same waves crashed
millions and millions
of years ago
the same heart beat
beats us to death
all the thoughts
behind a dinner party
behind the conversations
behind the hugs and kisses
rolled up and delivered
in a simple tablet
take once a day before a bottle of red wine
side-by-side effects
instant madness
inescapable thoughts
complete loss of mental and physical control
should not affect speech
painful truths
realisations
loss of love and affection
may experience sense of utter loneliness
participant may in fact drift through void for an eternity
taking more than one tablet a day
unknown
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