Prison Cell

I never wanted to talk about you

prison cell

you’re so banal

                   and so bleakly familiar

like the noose they lift and let fall

with every step that we take

but the problem, prison cell,

is that today

you force yourself on me;

your craters of chalk

spring to life like a carnival’s bestiary,

your hopeless door

with that sniggering jaw through the peep-hole

your window unto a hypothetical sky

that calls out to nostalgias

You’re right here

inside me

like a second body

that pushes me deeper and wanders through me

after blowing the cold wind

of exile into my chest

and I’m not ashamed

of being a little down in the dumps today

in this clandestine display case of separation

I’m not ashamed to feel my fuming broken heart

tumble inside me

the unmistakeable tragedy

that keeps running alongside me

the happiness of final certainties