Mulberry Mews

the world’s conniving
and it’s cold outside

I’d rather stay here
where it’s warm
inside you
all night

before tomorrow arrives
and I shall be inclined to return to the mine
to work and earn my ether
an endeavour which may take forever

but to decentralise and self-govern is destiny
like an application on the Ethereum blockchain

so who am I to go against the grain?
I was born to be free and staying would eventually give me fetter pains

pardon my utterances if they’ve become cryptic all of a sudden
it’s just that I’d rather not spoil the evening – this moment
by telling you what I’ve been withholding

that by sunrise
I’m to journey to a land of fire and mud volcanoes
way out there in Azerbaijan
where I shall be on assignment before proceeding to Uzbekistan
to view the Savitsky Collection

o, believe me woman
to be so far away from you for so long
is to slice the heart open

and as I stand here now on our bedroom balcony
smoking this organic golden leaf grown in granitic loam
while you curl up on the daybed looking at me
unawares you’ve just inspired a poem

letter forms and written words retrieved from memory as I create

thinking how the world’s conniving
and how cold it is outside

I’d rather come there
where it’s warm
inside with you

 

Heath Muchena, 2017

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