Into the forest (Stay Calm)
A green light trembles dimly
Like a candle in a wine bottle
The engines are emptied of their oil
Silent headlights gliding by
Flocks of feathers take to the sky,
Ruffling like fabric
Steam and droplets and sound
The road slips like a mirror
Soft sighing mountains
Seeds and glass and hands
Someone is ringing a bell or an anvil,
Far away, far away from here
Stay calm (it’s alright)
Stay calm (it’s alright)
Stay calm (it’s alright now)
Halfway through a curtain
The water swells like a frog
Specks of time slide down the stars
The marble uncurls a cloven hoof
In a sullen hallway,
Pretending to be a room
Frozen raspberries, hairs sticking up
Pearls and glazed backdrops
A dazzle in the clouds
The empty birdcage unbones itself
Like a breathing umbrella,
Tender as the earth
Stay calm (it’s alright)
Stay calm (it’s alright)
Stay calm (it’s alright now)
The insects sleep still, in their coats of intricate circuitry
Strides of starlight beckon you to step forward
And the trees take a ragged breath, to you now they speak,
And the bark on the trunks, it creaks, and it bows, it softly articulates
To say the words I cannot speak, and deliver them to you, F██████
And they brush your hair with their branches, and cloak your back with leaves
Stay calm (it’s alright)
Stay calm (it’s alright)
Stay calm (it’s alright now)
A recurring dream with a trapdoor
Where the sulfur meets the coal
Little metal casings, neatly piled up
A walking thing walks by the window
The doorway is heavy with tapestries,
From an unknown country
The fairies unwrap their brethren
From white gasping fruits
A transparent needle stings
A dislocated axle
The mantelpiece sings a song,
A song of suffocation
Stay calm (it’s alright)
Stay calm (it’s alright)
Stay calm (it’s alright now)
Here come the evergreens, all dressed up in flames and fury
You feel the sharp taste of copper in your temples and in the pits of your jaw
And the ash, it conducts a choir, and it sways like a dozen serpents
And the smell, the smell it clings to your clothes
Let me breathe with you, let me share this tainted air, and choke,
Choke in the fire of your arms, and crumble up into your sky
Stay calm (it’s alright)
Stay calm (it’s alright)
Stay calm (it’s alright now)
The wind curses between the sheets
The porch light fiddles out a whimper
An empty matchbox washes ashore
Amidst the salt and talismans
The rain soon will fall,
Everything dissolves
The shepherd of lost lovers
Knits a long, scarlet veil
A stranger wearing a shroud
Steps through the archway
The open wound toils in the sand,
But the pain rings like a mute
Stay calm (it’s alright)
Stay calm (it’s alright)
Stay calm (it’s alright now)
A golden lark tears through the membrane, it does not reflect light
‘Dream fully or not at all’, the carcass croaks from a secret cove
Can you see the cogs, if so, tell me, are they moving, are they turning
Climb this ladder of clovers, tell me, are the weeds in spin
Tell me, is there anything to claim, is there a single chance of home
How long ago was ‘soon’, how much further is this road, I cannot crawl anymore
Stay calm (it’s alright)
Stay calm (it’s alright)
Stay calm (it’s alright now)
A fossilized petal tip-toes away
A ribcage bursts at the seams
The sound of lint is heard
The telephone booth is drooling
Like a starving animal,
Stuck in the cement
Formless photons gather round
And discuss waterlights
The pine cones spill out of the wind
Life bubbles out of a sinkhole
Witnessed by birds and mice,
In the utmost silence
Stay calm (it’s alright)
Stay calm (it’s alright)
Stay calm (it’s alright now)
A few fugitive tinkles
From an snow white chariot
The ever-shrinking circle
Fumbles out of its citrus sleep
A simple kiss of the daisies,
Is all that moves now
Heavy buzzing strings
Like a leviathan plane
The shadow of a shadow
A black stork cracks a nut open
Something gave me shivers,
Moments, just moments ago
But stay calm (it’s alright)
Stay calm (it’s alright)
Yes, stay calm (it’s alright now)
Dip whole into the night pool, close your eyes but don’t let go
Braids of grass weave through your hair and fingers, don’t let go
The smoke moths and cotton creepers, they float and they fizzle
Setting out for sound, reach out, reach out for it but don’t let go
I will hold on to you tight and we’ll go seek it out together
Through the claws and cries and jewels, we’ll bleed and we’ll tremble
Stay calm (don’t let go)
Stay calm (don’t let go)
Stay calm (don’t let me go)
Stay calm (it’s alright)
It’s alright
Yes, it’s alright
It’s alright
It’s alright
It’s alright now
Stay calm, it’s alright
It’s alright now
It’s alright now
It’s alright
2021