1) Environmentally Inspired,

2) Conceptually Imagined,

3) Cocktail Napkin Doodled,

4) Digitally Word-Processed,

5) Edited and Formatted,

6) Type-Printed,

7) Grouped and Bound,

8) Read,

9) And forever, became.

Copyright © 1986-2017

Alan Salé

All Rights Reserved

contact: AASalehi@gmail.com

PoetryByAlan.com

Her resilience buffered

Stumbling over itself and

Summonsing face-to-face

An eye for an eye --

Her inner and outer intent

Remember me, for I am, no longer.

Pray for me, for no one knows,

what to expect.

Salute me, for I was a soldier,

that died for a cause.

Judge the outcome without bias,

for my visions,

were based upon reflections,

from broken mirrors.

Cherish your time,

for it is a limited privilege,

which I may have affected.

But,

things are different now.

I no longer belong to anyone,

or to anything.

I am not a player,

nor can I be played.

I never truly had

the clearance to know why I did

what I did…

but if its aftermath hurt the innocent,

please extend my apologies,

for my actions were not meant,

to scar civilians.

Should the words of my tombstone,

one day enter and evolve your world…

Know,

that

things are different now.

I was a War hero,

a patriot,

who fought for peace.

I was placed on a field,

a pawn,

someone else’s piece.

Honor me, and remember me;

For one day,

things will be different,

for you, as well.*

* But do not spit,

upon my memorial,

merely because,

I fought,

for the other side.

Copyright © 1986-2017

Alan Salé

All Rights Reserved

contact: AASalehi@gmail.com

PoetryByAlan.com

You played with my emotions like a little rag doll

You grabbed right onto the red braids not even caring enough to see that its little pink cheeks were wet with tears

You made me feel as though I was not good enough

As though I did nothing for you

You made me feel like I was so lucky to have someone like you who loves me

You continuously told me that I was lucky you even want me

You told me that no other guy would ever want someone like me

I believed you; I let every single word you said run through my mind.

I gripped onto each word like a leech

You drained me of my worth and beat me down to nothing with your fists of words

If only emotional abuse scarred my skin the way physical abuse did

Maybe then you'd see that your words and your demeanor are the reason why I was so broken

Maybe if your patronizing statements bludgeoned my skin

The way a punch would leave spots of purple and blue on my tender flesh, you'd notice how much you hurt me

You watched me burn like a cigarette to ash You picked up my heart made of glass and threw it against the concrete

You told me that it was my fault you threw it

Redundant apologies; you told me you were sorry

You glued all of the little glass pieces together and promised things would be different

With hesitation I handed you my mangled heart

The way your eyes flickered with malevolence when you looked at me while gripping my fragile heart was a punch to the gut; the impact so forceful I felt the wind knocked out of me

In that moment the feeling of regret was suffocating

You threw it down so hard the sound of breaking glass was ear piercing

You stomped on it until all that was left were shattered pieces

This time I picked up those pieces and put them together on my own

I've built walls of steal around my healing heart that are impenetrable

You took a piece of me with you when you broke me but now I am making myself whole without you

I am immune to the touch of your manipulation and I've learned how to block those punches

I am now the ruler of my own land;

Valleys of skin, mountains of bone, rivers of blood, and waterfalls of tears

Clouds of thoughts, and blooming flowers of emotions

This is my land and never again will I accept for someone to take that away from me

My heart is not an inanimate object.

It is not something to be tossed around.

You treat me like some sort of reject,

After you made me believe you would stick around.

I thought we could conquer anything.

Any argument, any issue or disagreement.

But your unexpected, harsh words sting,

And they've surrounded me like cement.

I feel stuck but impelled to run.

I feel words that want to spill out but I bite my tongue.

I feel pain but I'm also so very numb.

I put the pen between my finger and thumb.

And I write about the pieces of you, down to every last crumb,

To try to determine where love was lost and hate was found.

But what does it matter now that you're not around?

It seeped in

slowly

Consumed me

piece by piece

Unrecognizable

to myself

Even my smile

transformed

Lovers taking

a trashcan journey,

looking for love

in all the wrong places,

amid the smell

of moldy sex,

stinking in putrid drops

from garbage can rim,

vile contents from

poor judgment.

Face covered in ants

wiped clean

by discarded condoms,

naked unprotected hearts

drowning in coughed spit

and clouded eyes.

Rusty foundation

for groveling sex

as they squeeze

bodies like toothpaste

until they run dry.

One night stand

buried in trash can

overflowing with

littered self-doubt,

thrown out

one particle

at a time

where sordid

truth lies

buried in

damaged souls.