Aides Moi
by Mukunda Saurav

These days I find myself zoning out to trivial things.

Picture me in Milwaukee singing “Holocene.”

As I walk the streets, my legs walk past me.

Somedays I cannot recall my home from memory.

My body just shuts down without any malfunction.

Some dusks I walk to catch up with the sun, I run.

The ball of the fire melts before me.

I adjust my focus, my eyes melt as I remember you.

I am right here as I was, but years have gone away.

Ever since you left, life has been an album negative

in the darkroom: the chemicals have gone missing.

How can I film myself like I did when I was a kid?

Your identity that I knew once I cannot remember.

I cannot be sure to identify you from a photograph.

The wind is strong; I am alone in my punctured raft.

The water constantly seeps in, derailing the rotor shaft.

I want you to try to understand me as I am here now.

I'd rather be in the clear than in conflict with myself.

The truth is all I need; you can keep love to yourself.

The dark in me is calling me; I am calling for help.