Black tiger struts into my life

killing my spirit from inside,

spitting infidelity into refuse pile,

lurking in shadows of alleys,

looking for drunken whores,

pouring toxicity into souls.

I feel rot of shattered promises,

toxic words spill out from glass

we share, funneling into

lonely place of armless pain.

        I’ll bleed for you tomorrow

Prefab whispers breathing lies,

puffy eyelids swollen wide open,

worn out shoes and blistered feet,

bloody streets and sobering dawn,

bee stings of shattered promises,

scars of festering nakedness.

        I’ll bleed for you tomorrow

Digging, scratching, mangling

spreading your toxic disease

in clouded gutter where I reside.

Gray skies floating away in smoked

glass and fractured images but

your angry touch lets me know

I still exist in this numbing place,

part of your life’s toxic waste.

        I’ll bleed for you tomorrow

My first.

You never forget,

And I never will. 

The butterflies,

The goosebumps,

The texts,

The calls,

The love,

Puppy love.

But puppies bite,

Puppies fight,

Puppies whine all night.

That was us.

On and off,

Light switch of love.

We'd kiss and hug,

But a wayward glance,

A misinterpreted smile,

A friendly hug

Seen from afar,

Drove us mad.

"You looked at him!"

"You touched her!"

"I can't lose you!"

Two misplaced hearts,

Strangling each other

With adolescent ribs.

We were a sitcom.

We were broken records.

We were shards of glass

Stuck under healed over skin.

Tolerable at times,

But unbearable at others.

The end came soon,

Too soon at times,

Too late at others.

We died in a week,

Then were revived,

Only to be killed again.

It went that way for months.

We were a Taylor Swift song.

We were a Shakespearean sonnet.

We were a phoenix.

Things ended,

And came back to die.

Now, it is years later,

And we don't talk,

Yet you still remain in my heart.

Back arched

Arms flung wide

  Jets of life shot into the air

Her expression

Caught somewhere between

Shock

And pain

  Motion momentarily frozen

  In the absence of time

Wrong place

Wrong time

The shutter opens wide

And this ghastly image

Sears itself into my mind

Too close

I see

But can’t yet comprehend

Then blink

A mental exhalation

And life’s course resumes

Hers pulled by force

  Into the cracks along the pavement

#poetry #reallife #amwriting