Whispering Neon Jellyfish

Whispering Neon Jellyfish
© Surazeus
2026 09 15

Kathy decides not to do the fun things, 
so she watches fish swim through deep canal, 
then pushes doorbell as signal of hope 
for the blind angel to open the lock 
which allows demons of despair to pass through, 
because she sends potatoes in the mail. 

Every time email appears on the screen, 
Kathy meows so the whole office hears, 
but they become pieces on the chess board 
in her conceptual game of catch the cat 
as shadow lurking on the melting wall, 
three times before the clock smiles not at her. 

Wrapping her face in the silk pillow case, 
Kathy rides the horse with thousand-foot legs, 
and kisses Jesus to understand why 
people suffer from harsh abuse and die, 
except the crippled swan in car garage 
that eats the blood-stained flag of our empire. 

Kathy hears whispering neon jellyfish 
that float in the high-school library dome 
just above the perfectly folded map 
that shows bright shadows of forgotten keys, 
so from gravity-defying teacup 
she drinks stolen secrets of midnight love. 

While Kathy considers the haughty cat, 
her mechanical typewriter of teeth 
types internal thoughts of lonely houseplants, 
though crystal pocket watches fall as snow 
from velvet clouds onto ocean of glass 
where children of her eyes weave tangled codes. 

Kathy wakes up in coffin of rose petals 
to find every clock in her doorless house 
is ticking backwards, and with every tick 
another memory of her sad childhood 
vanishes from her sponge brain, and becomes 
a beautiful painting on wall of bones. 

Kathy strolls cobblestone road past striped canes 
to endless ocean of bureaucracy 
that bubbles black as calligraphy ink, 
so her shadow detaches from her feet 
and lurks beside her on the screaming grass 
till she understands strange language of gods. 

Putting on her fear-heavy winter coat, 
Kathy discovers how its inside pockets 
open to snow-covered forest of lies, 
so she decides to do the most fun thing 
when her sighs transform to glowing glass marbles 
that contain nameless souls of the now-dead.