Lots of ways
To sting the heart
Words with poison
Aimed like darts
And the buttery
Canorous tone of your voice
Like sugar on arsenic
To make it taste nice.

Many ways
To clear the air
Ocean dulse
Black as tar
And all I do
Is dredge this deep
And bring up things
Best left asleep.

Many times
We’ve gone too far
Like hackled dogs
That spoil for war
Panniered
Like two pack mules
Laden down
With all our wounds.

Lots of ways
To let this go
A sunset in its
Orangey throes
But a white-flagged wave
Of armistice.
Will never stop
This revenant.