coldwintersday

These lips
are shattered
chipped
raw to the
wind

blood
flavours
my bitter
tongue

chill
nostrils
leaking
vital
brain fluid

Every now and then
a
savage
burst of
rage into
a cotton
slip

Around me
others are
embracing
handkerchiefs
as noses
drip

sick to my
stomach
how long
can
I keep this
up?

Stuck in
small
cramped
overheated
dreadful
lecture theatre

old man
bearded
drones
buzzing
he gestures

in irritation

at a sudden
sneeze
a racking cough
miserably
muffled by
pale hands

history
one two five
has never
been so
long and
boring

dry
throat
hawks
attempts
at
silence
lost

sympathetic
irritated
eyes stare
back
shut the fuck up!

fat, bundled
woman
next to me
in the
prime of health

bitch!

these lips
are gone,
lost
forever.



23 jul 93