By: RC deWinter

dissimulatus

we all carry a secret self
a jumble of mistakes shame
ambition desire passionate fire
anxious to be seen without blame
to be the object all admire
so wear a mask
when standing in the public eye

it’s the way we live

coiled serpents hide in the belly
but we don’t slither
always best foot forward
in the trappings of a prince
fangs retract in sunburst smiles
though sliding that rattle
into the glass slipper
is an agony almost beyond endurance

it’s the way we live

complicit in deception
conspirators in a masquerade
to be seen as we appear
never as we truly are

it’s the way we live

who would love us could they see
the shadow self?
liars deceivers actors all
desperately craving that curtain call
the end of play the end of day
ripping off costumes to slither away

it’s the way we live

never buy the comedy
of those who stoutly claim to be
exactly what it is you see

it’s only the way we live

###

love on the surface of venus

it’s no surprise venus is
the hottest planet circumnavigating
the sun
for what in life is hotter than the
unrelenting spur of desire?

when it digs into pink flesh
who –
breathless from the lack of oxygen –
can resist hurling oneself
into that foaming sea?

all the blood
concentrated in those places
hidden from casual observation
boils in a crucible of lust
reducing thought to molecules

sent swirling into space
from the lack of a magnetic field
to bind them in conscious memory

and joyfully blind we surrender everything
for the chance to taste
once more
the knifedged honey of temptation

###

up in smoke

i wandered out
into the chilly night
hoping for stars
but there were none

the dark steel ceiling overhead
overlaid with clouds
that drowned the cosmic lightshow

but then across the sky
a plane
lights flashing
streaked across the darkness
and i wished with all my heart
that i was on it
leaving all the dust
of my dead life behind

then i recalled
the incontrovertible truth
no matter where you go
there you are

your baggage travels with you
like a second skin

resigned to this
i went inside
and lit another cigarette
the only place i’m going
is up in smoke

###