I Follow in the Footsteps of Generations

Using an obsolete map,
drawn by a hand
not my own, I
search for the centre
of myself, knowing
I will never find it,
but finding my steps swift
and easy with the possibility,
like a treasure hunt
guaranteed to end
with treasure, no matter
how many find the place.

I Think of You

For one hidden weekend
my dick became
part of you, your cunt
a part of me, like homes
made for only one soul,
before being left empty
when that soul moved on.

Then, real life began
and we never knew
each other again,

not as intimately
at least, encountering each other
in corridors and meetings,
the occasional conferences
and wide lunches, our bodies
whispering to each other,
your wedding band
drowning them out
with frantic whispers of its own,
insistent and louder
than its whispers of before,
the whispers we had so
gloriously ignored.

To Seek the Sky and Never Know the Ground Again

The wax from my wings
has melted and scalded my skin,
while my feathers released
dance higher than I ever could,
free as they are now
from the confines
of the gloriously
inglorious ideas
of men.

And the ground
has greeted my body
like a lover intent on harm.

I am broken,
but breathing,
and already my bones are healing,
their sound audible
over the rasp
of my lungs.

I will rise again,
because I can,
because I must,
the sky above me
all I can see,

the sky above me,
and I below it
where I was never meant to be.

Edward Lee’s poetry, short stories, non-fiction and photography have been published in magazines in Ireland, England and America, including The Stinging Fly, Skylight 47, Acumen, The Blue Nib and Poetry Wales. His poetry collections are Playing Poohsticks On Ha’Penny Bridge, The Madness Of Qwerty, A Foetal Heart and Bones Speaking With Hard Tongues.

He also makes musical noise under the names Ayahuasca Collective, Orson Carroll, Lego Figures Fighting, and Pale Blond Boy.

His blog/website can be found at https://edwardmlee.wordpress.com