Bedtime

We held hands,
ignored the wet paint signs and slid down the rainbows anyway,
laughing like hooligans and painting the town prismatic.

Smoking crow angels in buzzing neon cathedrals
glanced up from their screaming corpse calliopes
as we shouted “Yahweh! Yahweh!” at the top of our lungs.

This has truly been the most remarkable day.

“Death has no say here” we cried,
even as we turned to skeletons before each other’s eyes
and watched moss grow on each other’s bones.

“Death has no say here” you said again
as ivy spilled out your eye sockets.
I cracked first.
Our laughter echoed off the jagged jade city edges
and woke the oil bats from their slumber
underneath the rusty rafters.

The ivy from your eyes
joins the ivy from mine,
and we watch each other’s bones
be reclaimed.

We have danced this dance many times,
you and I.

I will see you in the morning.

__________________________________

If you liked this, check out my book of poems. Here’s an interview I did about it.

Liked it? Take a second to support Caitlin Johnstone on Patreon!
Become a patron at Patreon!

13 responses to “Bedtime”

  1. Wonderful ending line! So much of life’s pleasures and also life’s anguish come down to what that last line says! “I will see you in the morning”….profound!

  2. Very good, thanks.

  3. Trish Christean Avatar
    Trish Christean

    Wow! I love this poem. Thank you!

  4. Beautiful..and so timely. Thank you.

  5. Wonderful!

    You are left and right brain polymath!!

  6. I love that one. My favorite poem of yours so far.

  7. leigh e lennox Avatar
    leigh e lennox

    Love it so much – Thank you Caitlin!

  8. patricia palulis Avatar
    patricia palulis

    exquisite sorrow – thank you for this beautiful poetry!

  9. Matthew Cameron Reeves Avatar
    Matthew Cameron Reeves

    Nicely done.

  10. Sounds like it might be an acid dream, but I wouldn’t know for sure. Didn’t sound terribly inviting.

  11. Wow. Divine Moments of Truth, man [:-{D>

    1. typical

      1. Meaningless gibberish

Trending