Version I:

Howling sounds from the bracken strangled moors,
Scratch at my ears; their screaming agony
Of the vipers and the mambas, the harlots and the gremlins
Who made beauty fade away,
Is the agony that wails in the belly, tearing diseased organs to shreds
Like chunks of skin dropping from the bones
As little dew drops of poison, slink slowly towards the heart
Which just a moment ago was iridescent with rainbows and summer larks,
Bubble baths and soft pillows.
And yet chimerical are these sensations emotions:
Calmness and stillness evaporate, pass away
So suddenly, as if abandoning one
to flounder and flap in the destitute of terror -
Medusa’s snakes licking our gangrene feet
As the leeches arrive to reclaim their blood
That splatters in phlegmy puddles by those feetless fellows.
So like a lone leaf blowing down a people-less street,
Where only the rats run down
Past this ancient town,
Be in a hurry to find somewhere else.

Version II:

Howling sounds from the bracken-strangled moors,
Scratch my ears,
As the vipers and the mambas, the harlots and the gremlins
Make beauty fade away.
So now this must unfurl:
Diseased organs dissolve in my acrid bile,
Chunks of skin drop from their bones as
Dew-drops of poison slink slowly towards my heart,
That before this moment was iridescent
With the rivers’ sparkle, and samadhic bliss.
Chimerical are sensations, emotions -
Sublime stillness evaporates, passes away
So suddenly.
Medusa’s snakes licking our gangrene feet
The leeches lurching sagaciously towards skin, aroused by the blood
Coagulating in phlegmy puddles by those feetless fellows.
So like a lone leaf blowing down a people-less street,
Where only the rats run down
Past this ancient town,
Be in a hurry to find somewhere else.