A Walking Consciousness

I am all air, a reverse reflection, a ghost:

I am emptiness that looks into a mirror and sees a person staring back

Heavy carcass, do you belong to me?

Turn down the volume of the white noise.

Stop-motion

Lilting, quivering

Sudden death,

Cardiac arrest,

And epinephrine.

I soar, all the while never moving.

The world turns, somersaults;

Paper figures

People pass me by, eyes look at me,

through me—

My mannequin, not me, leaden tongue and vacant eyes.

They are too far away

Or I am too far inside my skin,

too small for my suit of flesh.

I am all air

And around me is numbing shadow

Invisible space, frigid air;

I reach out, but I cannot touch

And cavernous silence swallows my meandering

Before I set foot out the door.

{Claire}

Gaping heart

A tribute to my cousin, Chua Guo Wei (1993-2015).

When men of men ask of space

They talk the stars of stars that glow and shine

No. Space is where he used to place

Where now I cry, I weep myself blind

Where his smell still lingers on the sheets

Where his ghost still haunts my dreams alone

Where my regrets redden, blazes and heats

'Cause space is a cruel, gaping black hole

Thus with the devil, I’d readily sell

My soul and life and material things

For a ticket to the fires of hell

As Saint Peter sounds the judgement ring

If for a minute, you may rise

And watch me breathe my final sigh.

Agnes Lee

Topic: Space (day 10)