Up North
photograph © Stacie Milmeister

estrangement

she lays me down gently,
her ragdoll she won't soon
pick up anymore,
and drown me in silence
the confused, feverish journey
from which 
I don't know I'll return;
and each day
the skies wear
the gray cloaks of dark inquisition
into the shivering souls
cowering for mercy, for warmth
a glimpse of a heavenly light;

I wander wordless, my
lips clenched stubborn in silence,
armored in rags, sheltered
by cardboard, pillars of bridges
the piss-covered walls, tonight's alley,
compare memories of me
to the shuffling, wild-glaring
reeking reflection in windows.
I laugh loudly inside,
tempted, the next time
to howl
in no language…

Man without myth
Alexandra Ekkelenkamp
 
he is
a photograph taken
with too much movement
& no light

a beard of rock
his body
dry
cement

what flesh gave birth to him
he does not know

seeking it
he walks on endlessly

he has no word for her:
myth of womb

he has no words at all
no-one taught him

when he cries
chalk letters mark his face

© Alexandra Ekkelenkamp 1996-2002