Ruby - Astari Boedikoentjara
You demand
to be the centre of your lover’s attention
as if she’s not allowed a life of her own
It’s the double standard
of the one feeling more entitled
I know what you did
I know what you did to her
You’ve broken her to bits
but she’s a survivor
You took what she’ll never get back
Bright lights, late at night
from the city streets so quiet
He woke up in a daze
with blood on his face
his memories erased.
They said I should’ve stayed longer
Perhaps it’s true
You’ve made me feel better
I owe it all to you
It’s the place where I could be
“I heard rage in your sleep,”
The Mighty Queen said.
“My child, what has gone so deep,
stealing the peacefulness in your dreams?”
“I forgot,”
Be grateful that I’ve kept quiet
as you blab to every pair of ear
who probably refuse to hear
your sob stories
your endless miseries
Must we wait
until something explodes?
We’re still the living bodies
in the same room of silence
Avoid the gaps and the holes
I've been transported back in time
something familiar
yet also bizarre
the same old Twilight Zone
with the same old Culture of Silence
I first knew you
before there was him
Then there were two,
until the truth got really grim
I had to take two flights
Half the sound is faintly barricaded
as I turn to the left
The other half is still safe
as I turn to the right
I fear of slowly losing the ability
You may associate white
with beauty or purity
All I see is what looks empty
like a page or a canvass
for a writer or a painter
You say it's just a talk,
like normal people making a conversation
It's part of being social,
despite the annual scrutiny and judgment
"Hello, there