Untitled But Something to do with time and colour.

Untitled (but something to do with time and colour).

Aleatory Verse

by

Cheryl Penn

the moments -

they’re  all around us now

incorporeal pale

residual hours

the core of a minute

functioning at full capacity

while gun shots blow doors

and the Sent Ones

attempt

to flee.

  

29 hours door to door

and 10 before that

the mind is unsettled,

tearful

blue-grey.

  

If I get to the place

where I cannot turn back

please -

come look for me

bring the Trojan horse

I’ll need a side kick.

When  trucks pull up

ochre dust rolls

along with the screams.

It was previous to this

The Mad set the code.

(dressed in yellow

on splattered pristine floors).

she didn’t know

41 minutes 36 seconds

that THIS was where it all started.

What are you willing to do

in the end -

is one love all that matters?

lights flickered when he arrived

unexpectedly

a guarantee to fail

it was Thursday

when

we discussed

possible time travel.

I always debated

I wanted to show you

you CAN go back

to the end of the beginning.

How does it work

No - (rather) did it work?

everything started

to cool once more

it may have been awkward

but

there are never clean exits.

You tried to make right

don’t wear guilt (a night-black cloak)

Back to lock-up

(more intelligence

than effort is worth).

why wasn’t there room?

The pages bind us

in one pallid volume

forever.

I’ll look for you

(I promise)

down the rabbit hole

may I bring a torch?

I never thanked you

for what you did

pulling me away from that darkness

reeling in carmine streets

unsure but aware

even The Smart would scatter.

  

he called

so loud and shrill

but the protagonist

- he wouldn’t answer

he had other fish to fry

besides; the red credits

gave nothing away

except

this was war. 

an original series?

Or a pre-recording?

The rules don’t seem to change.

Just little

fading

obscure

messages of senseless comfort.

What am I supposed to be looking at?

I can’t fix my eyes

such       a     great                                                                          distance

so you’re bringing it here?

carbon dated

grey

soft tissue

fragmented antique

I need stellar past samples

as we barter legacies.

the blow was unexpected

where is the army?

this is where you get

screaming shadows

and gyrating blows.

Would you like to hear

my initial reports?

91 years of memories

disappeared in a moment

even the distant memory of me.

Everything is forgotten in death

even the debt he owed.

They were friends

once

BUT MAN!!

the despair

we couldn’t watch the rest.

so they’re not with you?

eyes met

to settle

an unexpected outcome

loser takes all.

this time there was no heartbeat

on the other side

no orange vitals

he was dying

(and)

flickering spiders

continued to weave.

Skip a year

there was no valid name

do you NEED dark eyes

to identify the citizens

of battleships?

Barbed wire keeps them in -

ignore warnings at your peril.

why did you choose THIS path

turning your back

on unopened envelopes

you didn’t want to read

numbers on a wall

pages born in affliction

separation by existence

a traveller alone?

did you think you could view peace

eye to eye?

your discontent is your endurance.

Another yellow slip sliding away

opening doors

night trains

(If I knew you I’d remember)

1 second change

and events are forever not the same

planted dreams

before questioning

did he really cross the divide?

the walls were pale blue

(unexpectedly)

the panic button SO RED.

discover the voltage

which generates the past

cadmium power

that turned everything viole(n)t

he couldn’t understand

his own surprise.

the memories grew dim

of things left behind

a future he changed

under the influence

of deluded defiance

the skyline a silent partner

of unresolved investments.

every time we climb these steps

to a green room

(locked)

nursery rhymes

haunt the air

a staged place

three in the mirror

contributing to research

May I?

Statements of platitude

reflected in plans

you wouldn’t concede

difficult paths

you wouldn’t tread

why should you?

Its near proof

of running twisted hair

malevolent fingers

a mother taken

so long ago

softly falling tears

no protection

you CAN be a daughter again.

and The Traitor

he secured our future

we thought was our own.

Back there we couldn’t loose him

we overload and break

again

and again

is this the prediction

the resetting

the unexpected change?

We had to leave him there

in rooms on fire

after all that

-   did we lose?

-    

vulnerable to all

I am the clock

Look on my face

yes, I did everything for you

you wanted

and watched and demanded

we succumbed

you

You had NO control.

That large glass chronometer

a great space

Gothic

and hollow

chandeliers of missed opportunity.

Red stuffed armchairs

I was too slow

light through a closing door

scratched out faces

a petrified corpse

no blue Danube enterprise.

(la-la-la-la-LA-LA-La-la).

He was manipulating the past

to set the present

a call from The Institution

slamming doors

extinguished light

runners set for failure.

there is something

you’re not saying

the cycle must happen

its time to unwind

to repeat and conquer

he was in this from the beginning

a real horror story

set in motion

but those participating

always pretending

always PLAYACTING.

  

they buy the truth

for cheap

a catapult

a life just like yours

that never ends

they needed  keys

to the game of death

the site of all action

and she?

she never stopped not saying

all the words she meant.

Why cant we just anticipate

the beauty

of an uncertain future?

Destroying the world to save

one person you love -

is that what matters?

his trip was one way.

And Us?

We all out of time.

Time flies past

minutes on a airborne clock

will it work out for me?

nothing functions

with only 2 minutes to go.

how much do you want it?

its so close

so close

its fragrance overpowers.

(its a risk always

I wouldn’t even touch it

said Alice

from inside the Trojan Horse).