peels, peel back the layers

to find the inside too has changed.

what took you so long?

asked the heart.

a stranger stares back and says,

it’s almost done now, mostly complete,

just some final touches

to a ruined, empty, ghastly mansion

that was bloated from cankerous sores,

pus oozes out, stink filling the air.

turn up the ventilation, exhaust fumes to be

pushed out of this place called home!

the heart beats weakly, i’ll try to comply,

sighed – works harder

even though a mirror is not able to touch

a desolation, a foundation gone awry.

a master stroke, a genius inspiration or just

another street performer mimicking well?

a customer peels back memories, peels back

to the heart – finds no deception, takes a leap

of faith: i’ll buy.

gestures come cheap, talk is just a breath,

emotions however sparkle, light up, become like fire

when a branch gets torn from

a living tree, failed to ignite under intense flames

for life is untouched by memory relived.

it’s not the same thing dummy,

called out the imp that tells half truths,

the customer staggers about, holding his

illusion of priceless worth,

still living out tarnished memories made perfect.

a mirror shatters,

and luck has nothing to do with it: damnation

found her way in

when visual was taken as depth.

whitewash, paint a rainbow, my little pony

rides across to meet care bears

unable to bridge one world to the next

for a dream weaver who is no longer able to

weave the next stich – a connector.

you’re fired, out, out you go

admonished the producer unable to meet

the deadline,

tries to fix fragmented pieces with glue

no longer sticky, cotton candy sizzles under heat,

blackens, a bitter ending.

what a sticky situation

mused the heart still longing to take that

silver from clouds hanging tauntingly.

masses gather, storms brew, a hurricane

throwing off silver into chaos –

grab them while you can,

logical, practical, theoretical, hypothetical,

completely erroneous

when rainbows depart upon towers of babel

unable to balance their center of gravity,

visuals, misalignment, surface, fantasies,

picture perfect! who would say no?

the core is corrupted, the core is rot, the core

is babel still thrashing to live.

peel back more, peel back till the heart

shatters a mirror: you’re not the most beautiful.

the ugly, the down trodden, the ones who have

to toil each day –

who wants that? no one.

broken pieces all around, shards sharp, milk sour,

and a cottage filled with roses, humming birds

darting back and forth, freshly baked cookies right

out of the oven.

a rainbow connects dream world to the next,

when death comes first, death, putrid foul tasting

death! who wants that?

live, live, live

everybody wants that.

but heaven plays hide and seek,

hides in clear sight –

you’ never actually wanted me,

heaven sighs. only what i could give.

heaven peels back the layers,

each layer unwrapped till only the core remained.