Deconstructing the Darkness
poetry
Deconstructing the Darkness
Many I know are falling apart, secretly
their thin porcelain masks, cracking
their skin underneath, their voices
in midsentence, betraying.
We say fine, have a good day
anyway
I went down to Hyun Lee’s Karaoke,
passed the massage tables, the cards
shuffling in the back to the Fall Apart room
in the basement but someone was already there.
ugh
who wants to fall apart with a stranger?
So I invited you over to deconstruct
in the dark together and maybe we
mix up a few parts, my heart, your marrow.
I never was much of a puzzologist,
but it may be our best chance to patch
together the semblance of morning.
“I never was much of a puzzologist,
but it may be our best chance to patch
together the semblance of morning.” wow
Ray… this poem feels like slipping into a dim hallway where everyone’s pretending their porcelain isn’t cracking, then suddenly you’re in a karaoke bar negotiating emotional collapse like it’s on the menu.
The “Fall Apart room already taken” line?
That’s peak tragicomedy — the universe saying, “sorry, emotional breakdowns are fully booked today.”
And the ending… inviting someone to deconstruct the darkness with you, swapping heart for marrow just to stitch together a scrap of morning — that’s messy, intimate, and quietly heroic.
This whole piece is tender chaos in the best way.