Drinking wine, blood trickles from my busted knuckle. The red mist took hold, just for a second, but I lost it nonetheless. A phantom in the throes of fantasy, I was snapped out of my little taste of bliss. Somewhere nearby, I hear the keys of a piano being played so sullenly it eases my rage. Outside, strange lights move across the sky. They hover above the houses opposite before disappearing over distant hills. Swallowed on the front doorstep by the womb of mother nature, I’m scared to death, yet gripped by a fleeting sense of euphoria. Travelling back to where I belong, I yearn for the hand of time to tap me on the shoulder, to call me home so I may escape the stains of humankind. This place holds no interest for me. I’m an architect of visions, not of social acceptance. It cheapens me to act like this, to pretend that I’m just like them. Swallowing another mouthful of Chardonnay, the darkened streets are alive with your image, and when I close my eyes, I see you in my arms. Faithless like the leaves being blown in the wind. Your beauty is non-existent. It’s what I see inside of you that matters, and with everything I have, I want to take your hand and fly to the deepest corners of the universe. Away from everything, I want us to become one. The nature of our souls. The thoughts that guide us down this path. I want only to be free. To be free of every restraint. Despite my troubles, I yearn only for the touch of someone who will take me in their arms and tell me it will be okay. Beneath this exterior, there’s just a boy forever running to a light that grows dimmer with every passing year. Words are a lifeline, a rope that dangles before me as I struggle so stupidly. Rolling a smoke as rain comes down, a cat darts beneath one car to the next. Gazing at me from its hiding place, I crouch and click my fingers until it comes waltzing over. Running my hand through its wet coat of fur, it stays. And so we sit together; me drunk, and it looking for a little comfort. A different species, yet the same intentions. And I imagine you here with me, sat by my side with your hand outstretched collecting droplets of rain while the world spins regardless. Then a shimmer of unwelcome headlights makes my feline friend jump a fence for refuge. Into the void, it moves away as I sit with my back turned to unworthy eyes. There’s something here, something wonderful, yet as soon as it grows, it disperses.