Serpentine Atlas (A Nude Struggle)

Georges Cunningham

I watch the love flow out of me

Toward a river of absence,

A void in the timeline.

Like a hole in a raincoat,

It amasses complete.

I watch the love flow around me

Toward a mountain of adulation,

A wreath of social intercourse.

Like a stain on a Christmas tableau,

It proliferates complete.

The eon’s hands grip my throat

And opens my mouth wide.

I struggle, I tremble, I shudder

All of my existence, an infinite thrashing

By anguish and deficiency and inadequacy

As I watch my lifeforce floats away

Until the final bell.

I watch the love flow away from me

Toward an ocean of prancing mummers,

A smile made of brandy.

Like a zoo of penumbras,

It vesicates complete.