One more for the road…

Ever-longing lasting

Not quite past

The stage where she gave up

Would anyone find

This contradiction

To their liking?

She doubted it

But kept an open mind

One day, she might find

A soul who echoed hers

And the bad years

Would be nothing

But blurs

Like windshield wipers

Against a Sunday downpour

What’s more, she

Finally admitted that

“Being strong” was nothing

More than a warning, a wall

Saying to everyone

“I’ll not let you in, not at all”

Shaking her finger at them

Full of sass

But never forgetting

Her nose pressed up against

That glass and how it felt

To be reminded that

She had a shelf-life

Of a month, maybe two

Because they didn’t understand

The very contradictions they spurned

Would be turned into

Giving until she was spent

Repent at your leisure, I say

For she’s gone, baby, gone

Your rear view mirror can’t reflect back

The one no longer there

So have care with her

When she’s in front of you