Her, feet splayed over the glass, head buried in his chest, seeking that secret place above the heart where dreams lie silent

Him, arm curled round, eyelids sucking in her scent, mind ascending to heaven on a wave of oxygen.

Forbidden Room Extract

Two thousand years ago I would have been a god.

I'd exist in a cave lit by flickering torches, daubing beasts on the wall.

To my left and right would be the bones of my ancestors, offerings of flowers and food piled around and in the centre sit would I , shrouded in white, mad eyed and wild haired, swaying to the drum beats in my head, giggling at the dust demons roused by the steady drone, rising to meet the sun that shone like a lazer beam at its zenith.

I would occupy the sacred place between life and death, the liminal world of spirits and gods, communing with my inner voices and dispatching wisdom to the swaying crowds who clung to my every move. Daubed in copper, blue and orange, the green man come to life wreathed in vines and rooted to the ground, part of the earth, only the eyes alive as I spoke to my god tripping away on a beam of light. The bones talked to me and I would gurgle like a baby, happy in the secret knowledge being imparted. The liminal space we want to occupy, but are too scared to visit.

Now sit here I, forbidden man, locked in my cave with no-one to pay homage. Barred from the world, a forgotten holy man who communes in silence with his lost gods.

Two thousand years ago I would have been a god. Now I'm a wraith, condemned to sit in silence with only imaginary succubi for company and the gold of my madness.