Pain

Pain.

Possessing
My mind, like
A breathless touch.

Becoming the core of my consciousness
Driving out everything else.
And yet

It has a melody of its own.
I listen in feverish fascination
As it leads me through troughs
And peaks and
Salty ravines.
It is ennobling
In its obliteration.

It makes me want to scream.
But that is unbecoming of a gentleman.
So I breathe instead.

A roiling ocean of lead
And I'm but a boat.

...

They stuck five needles
Into the roof of my mouth
And the numbness bubbled
And spread through my face;
So hot 
that it felt cold, like the touch
of your index,
so many months ago.

...

A roiling ocean of lead
And I'm but a boat.