Portrait of Mid-Autumn (Sean Ali)

Drink in these mid-autumn hues
Where the sky conceals its radiance
            with droll draperies
A voice,
            and the essence of accidence
                        are steadily infused
With constant extravagance
Like a forgotten design in an abandoned papery

My dialogues with ghosts,
            an admixture of fear and reverie,
Have left me longing
            for what I’ve been denied the most

And this incessant pride,
            this turbulent oscillation
                        between the things I expose
                                    and the things that I hide
This incredulous faith that leads me further out
Where the ice is weak and thawing thin
This tireless defense grows timeworn
And recalls bitter memories with this amorous fragrance
For a heart that is lovetorn
And a soul desolate, outcast, and forlorn