VOICES FROM THE FIRE: J.C. Hawkes

R E D   C U R T A I N

I have replaced my face 

with a red curtain 

because,

I am hooked in 

and willingly I disappear 

into arms of 

cockroaches, 

a stockpile of dream 

and manifest of circulation. 

I found you 

at the closing of market street 

and we saw each other 

once estranged 

by emotion 

now reunited 

by several scenes 

describing our 

insatiable 

appetite 

for deliverance. 

THAT IS NOT ALL THERE IS. 

Away from the noise 

and with 

– if any, 

neighbors 

who are 

other 

than 

the norm. 

one mysterious figure 

– scattered 

and an ordered mess 

made of black and green hues, 

He was suddenly offering 

me a house 

at any 

cost 

– an immediate transaction – 

available to relocate instantly. 

like clapping to turn the lights on

or a voice command 

to change 

the song. 

The things that creep 

into the brain –

This biological space, 

the magician 

forgotten 

and the neural network 

displays distinct potential 

but the wires are explosive 

and there is no one trained 

to fuse the energy created 

by its blast. 

That is not all there is – 

and even those beings 

who describe it well, 

one might 

consider to 

get a fact check 

or vote in the wrong presidency. 

Obsessive governmental orders 

by decree 

– sent to your depletion 

of conscious aware 

the imagination is 

murdered. 

That is not all there is!

THE REPUBLIC OF ROME. 

Of the light streaming inside 

the momentum of a 

falling petal into 

my lap

She, is a very distant creature 

who has enlivened  

while beating the river 

and the sun out of 

my rusted heart 

falling no longer 

to the expanding 

levels of a conscious 

activity across 

worlds within 

while the rain 

is falling

I see clearly 

more 

precarious 

elements 

of inactivity

and the 

promising 

downfalls. 

The psyche

an encroaching organism 

and my head is beating 

like the vibratory light 

dripping from the ceiling 

with the alluring fragrance 

of, I don’t give a flying fuck 

in hell anymore

I am quite okay with 

the fall of a civilization 

such as this version 

transpired and inspired 

by The Republic of Rome.