Spring Anguish

by Amit Parmessur

my slim tongues want to lick the sky
I wish I could lose this crowd forever,
slowly, and with no one’s knowledge
I dream of growing new tastes
and buds in a nameless city,
of changing everything
about this nothing
sprawled in bed
with an eye slashed
and feeling like
a toothless Cyclops I
muse about what life is
there’s a pit of
darkness that’s deepening
in my stomach, these days

time will tell
people say, but my
clock does not speak to me
so much pain I remember
I remember I’ve forgotten
to remember I need to forget you
My heart will walk up to
my mind maybe and in unison
they’ll try to kill what’s
trying to kill me
I care about those who don’t care,
and how I really fail to care
about those who care
maybe it’s time—
it’s time to change
my beard into cotton
candy so that
only syrupy
tears may splash against
the shower floor, every season