
'Corporeal Forms' & 'Downfall': Two Poems by KC Bailey

CORPOREAL FORMS
Between the bricks whispers cling like mortar. Secrets
ricochet off walls, crumbling into dust. Beneath foundations
rumours rot amongst roots – poisoned by passion, hope
shrivels in the dirt, where memories decay under the weight of lies.
In the attic, dreams of laughter hide in rafters
with faint slivers of light and petrified spiders.
I am unafraid, for my mind belongs to another body; this vessel
disguises its true form. An outline appears after rain,
the changes burn at sunrise. I become numb as hours pass
and life bleeds with envy.

DOWNFALL
The dread creeps in through open pores
hooks its barbed tongue into your thoughts
leaks acidic emotion
burning at the core of being, of self,
fostering doubt
festers and feeds off uncertainty
It grins through pin-like teeth
that ooze black blood
contaminates the soul – erases identity
cracks open the sternum
to access the heart
twists arteries into slipknots for fun
Amused with his work, Dread
lingers in plain sight
biding his time
until the crumbling torso
yields soft enough to chew
and spit out
He remakes your insides
puts everything back
in the wrong place
attaches cords
sticks them down
with amalgam pulled from molars
When you wake up dazed
believing Dread has left
that you are finally free
you realise he has implanted
dark ideas that detonate at will
triggered on his command
keeping you on your knees.
KC Bailey is a writer, poet and visual artist from the UK. Her work appears in The Hellebore, Black Bough, The Tide Rises, Fevers of the Mind, Crow & Cross Keys, Amethyst Review, Neologism Poetry Journal, Odd Magazine, Dreich, Marias at Sampaguitas, CP Quarterly, Acropolis Journal, Nymphs, and elsewhere (Twitter: @KCBailey_Writer. Website: https://kcbaileywriter.wordpress.com).