Of Love and Off Hinges

By Jeffrey Thomas

Many shades of white surround me
In the confines of four empty corners
Where a sea of paddings embrace me
In a place void of sense or reason

My love companion, a straightjacket
The binding arms that embrace me whole
Straps me to earth, restraining
But strips me of mind and the will to flee

Consumed by the inviting allures of sleep
I lie in a bed of my own undoing
Where the only sound that fills the space
Is of gnashing teeth and skin-grazing sheets

I gnaw at the collars and nibble on the sleeves
Of the straightjacket that is you
Trying to make sense of an insatiable madness
For which there is no cure