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The Abyss

by Joshua Hess  

Vicious rains fall to the Earth in
patterns like quilts upon the wall
of a store just around the corner.
She’s leaned against the brick
in a way that kicks you from
your feet, yet you fall ever-so-smoothly.
I stand on my toes to overlook the
crowded streets, the commotion,
the rush of all these people;
I spot you.

I'm making my way toward you;
pushing, shoving, dodging through
these robotic humans with their
minds focused on the next taxi.
I saw a man through a window, playing a piano,
and a homeless guy on the
sidewalk with a hat half-full of money.
But when I made it through the crowd,
you were gone.
I paused. People stumbled past me, shoulder bumped
me, looked at me, yelled at me.
I stopped in mid-December, frozen in an era with my
mind in the clouds, lying in a bed ─ so far up in the sky.

Into the abyss you ran, with my heart in your hand.
Come back again, come back again;
Don't ever leave, my lady
'cause I'm dying to see just exactly what you see.
And maybe we can hold hands – listen to your favorite bands;
just sit by the shore and watch the sun – the entire ocean explore;
spill out into my bedroom floor. Pour, more and more and more
until we can't breathe like before.
Just once again, open your heart and adore;
I'll love you to the very core.

I awaken from a dream.

By Joshua Hess

Joshua Hess resides in a small town in Kentucky where he plays drums for a band called Normandy. He has had several different pieces published in various literary magazines across the country. Hess has most recently finished a novella entitled I Call Bullshit, as well as a compilation of short stories titled Complexity of the Simple Mind. Hess is the founder of the online literary magazine Decades Review. www.decadesreview.weebly.com  His e-mail address: Josh Hess