She felt his presence, heavy and shadowed
As he observed her sitting at the window:
“You sit and look outside for hours,
your hazel eyes filled with hunger”,
he remarked bitterly,
“What could you possibly think
is out there waiting for you?”
A voice, empty and tired, but
edged in hope replied:
“Everything and, after all,
anything’s better than what is in here.
You have left me desolate for years now,
But I realized today that I still have myself.”
Choosing anger to override his shame,
his tone threatened thunderstorms:
“You’re such a foolish child at heart,
With your head always full of daydreams.
Restless in your ways, but soon you’ll
Learn to accept the view as unattainable
And stop staring through the window panes.”
He thought he had won, like each time before,
but was forced to stall his exit as her voice rose again:
“You may have clipped my wings for now,
But I’ll remember how to fly.
You have tried to lock this cage,
But I’ve been searching my soul
And I think I’ve found the key.”
As each day progressed she became less afraid,
And found beauty in the mirror once more.
Her spirit had thawed and soon she knew
The time to leave had announced itself.
No cage has held her since.
Jan 1, 2014
Jan 1, 2014 at 8:13 PM UTC
I almost forgot you-
and then it hit me as I sat
staring out the window,
searching an empty nightscape.
Recollections of your tenderness
soothing me from echoes of your voice
and the lightest touches of your hands.
I wanted them on me
and I wanted you near me so badly
I was willing to pay any price.
Intoxicated, stumbling from shadow to shadow-
quietly, quietly so not to be heard.
Sneaking sideways into rooms
covertly, covertly so not to be seen.
A whole spring to spring romance
hidden beneath facades we both struggled to maintain
in our appropriate adult lives that
were killing us slowly from the inside.
And then you were leaving with her-
I was staying with him.
And I was jealous and heartsick
to realize I was just your passing phase
of hunger for passion, not where your heart lived.
It’s to my credit only I never let you have me,
and I can go on knowing I will always be your siren;
But you will never be mine again.
A new ring on my finger promises
a love I have never known and one I knew
you could have never given me.
Jan 1, 2014
Jan 1, 2014 at 8:04 PM UTC