issue 24 > poetry > kuspit

keepsake on my desk,
                                       discomforting inspiration,
i wear your brazen mask
                                           to the carnival
of my consciousness,
                                       casting wisdom away
for a few paltry ideas,
                                     pretty ribbons of words
that flutter in futility, 
                                 frivolity of the mind
unable to outlast time.
                                       no irony
can mock your mystery.
                                          unchanging,
your expression
                            mocks my curiosity.
you are fresh innocence
                                          for my virginal emptiness,
filling it with longing
                                   for the unfathomable,
near at hand 
                      in your smooth silence.
give me the gift of insight
                                            in your hollow eyes.






Also by Donald Kuspit:

in homage to death i
in homage to death ii
in homage to death iv