the path to enlightenment

where went the zest?

i hear it in bits of the music
between the choruses
but not quite in the verse

where once you danced
now you droop like a willow tree

where went the joy
when you walked out into the street

did you forget why you were here?

have you run out of reasons
to make believe?

or is it your career that’s got you straight, shiraz?

is the price of equanimity no more bursts of ridiculous love?

perhaps you spent it all on women that never loved you back

or perhaps your passion was just blind adherence to the frivolousness of your emotion.

or maybe not.

possibly even that passion will return,

but until that day,

you are just an ordinary man.

and this is just an ordinary world.

and these are just ordinary times.

and this is just another blog entry

in just another subculture

and the love you’ve known already

is the most you’ll ever know.

not, of course, that you haven’t known a lot.

but have you known what you wanted to know?

what happened to the passion, old man?

too much time at the computer, perhaps?

goodness me.

i want to hear your voice again, lovely.
i like the sound of your heart.

and the beat that pulses beneath you
i feel at the base of my throat

oh god, what happened
to sarah gooding warming her hand under my t-shirt?
to jessie schram and her deep blonde intelligence?
to the love which lived at the end of my touch?

and where are they now?

where are you?

do you hear me, shiraz?

where are you?

darkness, love