The Title Page

RETURN by ?

Note: as said, this is not a poem, more like a title page for something. The name of the author has been thoroughly and violently scratched out. Written above the title: "Campbell's MONOMYTH! I) Departure II) Initiation! III) Return".

Poem 18

A good friend passed away today

Quite unexpectedly

A bit of a bad luck there

But these things happen

It was nobody’s fault really

He was taken by

A dark presence

We keep his things in a shoebox

On our mantelpiece

NOTE: "dark presence" has been underlined. Written next to the poem: "E didn't find this funny".

Poem 17

I was surprised to find

That such revulsion could shine

In someone’s eyes. “How I hate your kind,”

He said, as we sat down to dine

On him

Poem 16

Inside this shoebox we killed for

There is

We don’t know what

Neat stacks of hundred dollar bills

Jewels like stars

The dreams of those who’ve slept in this town

The dream of this town (when we open it, the dreamer will wake, and we, all part of his dream, will be gone)

Our wishes come true

The power to punch a hole into the universe

Inside this shoebox we killed for

There is

A coffee thermos

A flashlight

A box of ammo

Two pages of poems

Countless wor(l)ds

Inside this shoebox we killed for

There is

No cat, poisoned or otherwise, dead or living, undead, un-cat

Baleful spirits

All the evils of the world

No hope

Nothing

Darkness

NOTE: lines "A coffee thermos / A flashlight / A box of ammo / Two pages of poems, all crossed out. Written below the poem: "E can't see it. He's view is too narrow, limited. It's not a lake, it's an ocean, darkness before the act of creation, before the Big Bang, darkness upon the face of the deep, upon the face of the waters, before light, before the primeval atom, before the word, before THE POEM. I can be a creator, the creator. It has happened before, and it will happen again, many times."

Poem 15

More than anything

His dearest wish

He wanted to go from there

To leave

But he could not change his heritage

The blood in his veins was ink

And the crown was too tall

To pass through the door

He was doomed to remain

A king forevermore

Poem 14

Tightrope walking

Would you choose

A safety net

That traps you

And kills the thrill

Thin weave of wires

Slices your flesh

I must prefer

The dark air in-between

Soft shadows

Hug you gently

All the way to the ground

NOTE: written below the poem is a quote: "Which are you drinking? The water or the wave?" and the name of the author: "John Fowles". 

Poem 13

I came looking for my princess

Instead I found a witch wearing her face

No one in the family

Had noticed the change

She said:

“She becomes me.”

Through all the wicked things she did

To me, her beauty kept me in a daze

I stared at her adoringly and forgot how she used to be

As she tortured me for days and days

She said:
”She becomes me.”

Isn’t it strange that with every wound

She’s caused her beauty in the mirror fades

I hear she’s already looking for another pretty girl

To put on in the old one’s place

She said:

“She becomes me.”

We’re both so thin

We wear our skeletons on the outside

She becomes me

NOTE: written below the poem: "B offended, thought this was about her, of course it's not".