conditioned

as we hide inside our tidy pens
we cover our ears to shut out noise
the scratches drive us round the bends

we think we're outside of the trends
only others waste time with foolish joys
as we hide inside our tidy pens

the wolves slink out from their dark dens
with claws on paving draw their ploys
the scratches drive us round the bends

seeing the sights through a strange friend's lens
we keep our distance through our toys
as we hide inside our tidy pens

the dirty world outside we cleanse
with window pane that grime destroys
the scratches drive us round the bends

that none but Time its own death spends
as we spin the circles Fate employs
as we hide inside our tidy pens
the scratches drive us round the bends

compromising dementia

i close my eyes as i kiss your lips
time slows right down to my fingertips
my entire being's tingling through
i will come apart to come to you

my sight is gone, now my hearing too
i've left safe ground for something new
my hands and feet and all the rest
contract and pour into my chest

my thoughts are dragged down to that nest
so i can't ask if this is some test
that perhaps i'd pass if i could fight
this bewitching creature made of light

the world is now as dark as night
though i feel your lips that hold me tight
as you mix me up, turn me to smoke
that now whispers softly through my throat

everything i've done, and ever wrote
you pull from me in a sighing note;
do you hear me as you suck me in?
giving up my ghost as i let you win?

my body's now no more than tin,
and i feel absolved of all my sin
as you steal my soul with fateful kiss
that trades my life for total bliss.