Where Canterbury Stops

[oats]

@Split made a thread about this, never posted it on NC 2.0


my life has been a storybook of unfinished chapters
an undulant path riddled with blunders and laughter
yet if I summon the shadows of every wonder, disaster
I birth versions of myself waiting to publish their answers
they compete with each other, treading puddles of past words
another Eric trying to surface for each month I've meandered.
scientists, teachers, liars and cheaters
different narrators vying for a rung on the ladder
I feel them argue for control over my lungs and my stature
ghosts of moments passed too close to grasp succumb to the
cancer
humbled, I grasp for the agency they've hunted and gathered -
I fire back with pen and pad to try and muffle the banter
but I'm stuck in relapse, overcome by the clamor
spurts of progress operating like a bunt to a batter
this autonomy I've stumbled with and hungered to capture
feels like the childhood stories I read under the covers,
enamored.

drunken with passwords for my wrinkled derision
this is no "once upon a time" or "in the beginning"
protect myself from myselves, on the brink of addiction
hostage to nostalgia - such an intimate prison
instinctive division we mark as past and present
blurred into a vertigo of masked direction
so I look foolishly for future me to answer questions
like what happened to the magic of my adolescence?

static severance manifesting into massive dependence;
forsake what makes you happy for a vaginal entrance
books used to be my lamp until the shadows ascended
now staying up all night means I'm too trashed for repentance
immaculate sentences allowed dreams to ignite
dreams of Jurassic Parks, Rats of Nimh and Wrinkles in Time
I had romance with the world, full of meaning and life
it gave me sincere belief that whatever I could think could be mine
everything would be fine - nothing is broken or stained
so long as I could hide myself once I opened the page
even the loneliest days weren't empty, those words were my
passport
they were the truest, wisest friends any person could ask for
the hurt didn't last more than the error of doubt
emotions were there to be understood, not embarrassed about
I learned that nothing’s unimportant, every thought is a pearl
and that love was all that I could really offer the world

but now Chaucer would hurl at the sight of the bodies
given flesh by the memories that smile and haunt me
I've tried to move on, but I still hold to my youth
my life's a comedy of errors and a porno of truth
stories were windows to new worlds till I closed the panes;
trees never lose their rings - they prefer growth to change
every note that I claim is a temporal stick-up
you've grown up once you realize how great being a kid was.
so here I am, another rat waiting for trap feed
too lazy to be angry, too afraid to be happy
fascination fades like all imaginary plots
adulthood - I guess this is where Canterbury stops

[Free]

dope stuff, I liked it.. the last 2 verses were the best imo

id give it a 9/10