My pen is running out of ink
I guess I don't have much time to think
there is so much I wish to say
but all these things are in my way
I think back to that summer night
just before we had the fight
it was so perfect then and there
a perfect moment that we shared
things got rocky at the end
but you said we'd still be friends
you and I know what that means
it doesn't call for a pretty scene
all the damage has been done
at least we had those nights of fun.

Misunderstanding is everywhere I look
My entire life is starting to feel like a book
Not a book that has just begun
But a book that is well overdone
I ponder what holds for me in the next chapter
Certainly not a happily ever after
Oh, but look there's a twist
Something so easily missed
For my life is not a book
It is a sharp ***** hook
A hook plunged deep in my soul
Reeling me out for what life beholds
I am not ready to be on my own
I do not trust myself to be all alone
And what happens when you run out of line for your hook
It's the end of your story, the end of your book

I watch the fluorescent flash of the open sign
as I contemplate the meaning of life
Rain starts to pelt down harshly on the windshield
washing away the sign in a colorful stream
Though all else seems to be against it
it continues to flash
I silently will it to pull through
Then the flashing stops as abruptly as it began
I am almost offended
It offered no fight for survival, no retort
        
         The slam of the car door
         and the greasy smell of gas station food
         bring me back to the present

My brother offers the dampened brown paper bag towards me
I take it reluctantly, suddenly at loss for appetite
The ancient truck manages to roar to life yet again

       My eyes relentlessly follow the sign
       as we pull out of the parking lot
       searching for a sign of hope, anything.

As if some higher power had been listening to my innermost thoughts
the sign flickers once or twice more before taking its final breath

Attracted to you like a flame to a wick
Unknowingly mesmerized by your incandescence
Your impeccable beauty made me sick
But your attention like personal antidepressants

✖

I felt to special when you looked at me that way
Completely blinded by all your flirting
You made it seem like you were gonna stay
Now that thought is disconcerting

✖

You blew me away like smoke from a candle
Acted as if I hadn't mattered
You said I was too much to handle
And now it's my heart that lay shattered

✖

You knew the connection was there
However ephemeral our love may have been
You freaked out, left, and that wasn't fair
But by far you'll always be my favorite sin

You reminded me so much of a rose
Such elegance did you pose
Beautiful, lush, and full of surprise
How I wish I had known about your demise
Don't be silly, not that of thine
But the one you had in mind
For me, of course, what were you thinking
Now I am the ship that's slowly sinking
Time has passed, and now I'm gone
You sit there quietly, oh-so fond
and then that's when it came
Swift and sudden as the rain
The vicious guilt of what you had done
and now it's you that has to run
No matter how far or fast you go
You will never escape your vengeful foe
A wilted rose you have become
Did you picture me so dumb
I've come back to haunt you from the grave
Do you have what it takes to stand tall and brave
The answer is no
So far away you shall go
The life of a rose is not forever
or were you too busy to remember
Your time has finally come to an end
Now you make the perpetual descent
Into the confinement where you belong
Without a soul to accompany you along
Your story was a great one, but sad to be told
And there it sits sullenly for time to behold

There are so many things
that we would throw away
if we were not afraid
that others might pick them up.