Poetry #1: Deterioration (excerpt from Drown for Vibraphone, Percussion, Tape, and Video Art by David Chungin Lee)

Deterioration

The body gives way

sinking

into the depths unknown.

A quiet pull,

a hollow calm.

Something once whole

is unraveling.

Time moves forward,

but nothing arrives.

Trust bends,

then breaks.

Even the mirror blinks.

Love calls

with a flickering voice.

But the echo lies.

Don’t follow.

Don’t descend.

The black folds of emptiness

swallow everything

that comes too close.

There is light.

But it blinds.

The dark feels familiar.

The soul splits open.

Hands reach,

then fall away.

There is no rescue.

What once bloomed

now overgrown.

What once embraced

now consumes.

Love remains.

Somewhere.

Always.