MYSELF AS ENEMY
  
 I seek asylum 
 from myself, but 
 where can I go
 that does not involve 
 walking across
 the broken borders of alcohol,
 or the splintered languages of medication?
  
 Where can I go
 to escape the madness
 of myself, the crashing destruction
 of my mind, the taste
 of blood in my dreaming mouth?
  
 Where can I go
 when there is nowhere to go
 but outside of myself,
 permanently out,
 leaving the little good 
 I know behind forever,
 becoming the enemy
 I have always known myself to be?

  
 ALWAYS AN ENDING IN SIGHT
  
 It is only now, with
 hindsight stealing the false colours
 from my memories of the past,
 that I realise the poison
 you sneaked into me
 with your passionate kisses
 over all our years,
 meaning to build an immunity
 within my being, so your absence
 might not destroy me
 when you left, as you 
 always knew you would,
 you not the woman 
 to be held on to
 by anyone, least of all
 a man like me;
  
 but let me tell you,
 your plan did not work,
 for I am a man now destroyed,
 while poison bulges
 the shrunken chambers 
 of my once vibrant heart.
  
  
 GO
  
 Thought you were haunting me,
 but realised no one
 had told you
 you had died,
 the correct words unsought.
  
 When I told you the truth,
 your tears wounded me
 more than your spectral presence ever did;
 you had to turn your back,
 head tilted to the summer sky,
 before you could accept
 your fate, your shoulders shaking
 into nothingness,
 your shadow remaining,
 cast heavy and hard
 across my own fading form.
  
  

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 and Smiths Knoll.  His debut poetry collection “Playing Poohsticks On Ha’Penny Bridge” was published in 2010. He is currently working towards a second collection.
He also makes musical noise under the names Ayahuasca Collective, Lewis Milne, Orson Carroll, Blinded Architect, Lego Figures Fighting, and Pale Blond Boy.
His blog/website can be found at https://edwardmlee.wordpress.com