"Asterisk'" & "Epilogue" by Lawrence Moore

Asterisk

Mouths swill with passions no mouths could slake,

maladies shifting, new madness waits,

shiversome tryst above sacred bough*

* None of these things will happen now.

Eyes fixed on faraway kingdoms, lands,

spy (through their suffering) schemes and plans,

learn from each riddle some truth undressed*

* Noble in vision, but lost no less.

Creatures of order (still love to dance)

launder, restore given half the chance,

tippex unhappy, erase despair*

* Time machines languish, beyond repair.

Binaries banished, torn dreams entwined,

stacking of metaphors, yours with mine,

creeping through cemeteries, haunting trains*

* Metaphors, morbid, alone, remain.

Epilogue

If disguise proves too painful, exit now;

otherwise, as politeness must allow.

Lick your wounds, take a shower till they shine.

Feeling comes, bumps and bruises, grease and grime.

Stifling urge for evaluation, blame,

love endures, nothing poisoned, just the same.

Shoot with verbs, optimism, self-belief

(final third, truth re-enters, shows its teeth).

There's a place, sans admittance but for you,

always there - oft-forgotten, as it suits -

where to bide on your lonesome never stings,

full of trees, childhood whimsies, useless things.

From within, at your leisure, find new fruits,

epilogue, all adjacent era brings.