Untitled Needs for an Artist in New York

I need to throw myself into the lion's mouth
and allow his teeth to give my blood some air.
I need to ride the subway beyond my purpose
become a fallen angel looking for utopia at a foreign stop
and take the blind man's lead across a broken bridge.

I need to burn my hand and melt the past before my eyes
to let my mortal sins dissolve at length
like paraffin whose paramour is a familiar flame.
I need the future to give me mouth to mouth
and let the new millennium palpitate within my heart.

I need new actors to play my fears in my recurring nightmares.
I need old enemies by my side to remind me of my faults.
I need my solemn words to fill my open wounds.
I need my poems to protect me from myself.

 

New York